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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Indian <keyword id="45092" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="farmers">farmers</keyword> are protesting three laws that they fear will threaten their livelihoods and cost lives.</li><li>The laws deregulate the buying and selling of agricultural goods, leading farmers to fear they will be exploited by corporations.</li><li><keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> has some of the highest farmer <keyword id="6356238" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="suicide">suicide</keyword> rates in the world, and experts fear the crisis could worsen if the laws are not repealed.</li><li>India's government is in talks with farmers who continue to block road and rail routes across the country.</li></ul>Across India, farmers are demanding an end to new laws they say are not just threatening their livelihoods, but costing lives.Protests that erupted in the state of Punjab have spread throughout the country as farmers demand a complete rollback of the three laws that were passed in September. Collectively, the laws deregulate the buying and selling of agricultural goods, leaving farmers exposed to the uncertainties of an open market and potential exploitation by corporations.Meanwhile, record numbers of farmers in India are committing suicide, and experts fear the farming laws could drive even more people to the brink."The new laws that they have passed, we call them death warrants of farmers and laborers," farmer Kewal Singh of Punjab said.Agriculture sustains over 40% of the population in India. And as COVID-19 ravaged the country this year, it's farmers who have kept India's rural economy afloat. But the majority of farms are small, family-run operations, often at the mercy of loan sharks."This is the kind of farming community which is incredibly vulnerable to all kinds of uncertainties," said Vikram Patel, a professor at Harvard University's TH Chan School of Public Health. "Many of these farmers don't have any surety the banks demand in order to give them loans, so they borrow money from loan sharks, who are of course pretty ruthless. And if you pump your money back, well, they can be pretty dangerous to you or your family."India has some of the highest farmer suicide rates in the world, with more than 10,000 deaths each year, and numbers expected to have reached a record high in 2020. In Punjab, three to four farmer suicides are reported in the local <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="news">news</keyword> every single day.<div type="image" title="BIT_MMDD_Episode_V1.00_05_45_29.Still010" height="1080" width="1920" msid="80159631" hostid="261"></div>Nasseemo Kaur's son, 48-year-old Karamjeet Singh was among the deaths by suicide. He left behind a wife, son, and daughter."He worked as a laborer, but he could hardly earn anything," Kaur said. "He sold his land and crops. After this deed was done he thought that his life had no meaning, and he drank some pesticide.""We were collapsing under the weight of debt. We often used to cry, he used to say, 'What will we do? How will I marry my children? How will we sustain ourselves?'"Without her son to provide an income, another grieving parent, Naseemo Singh, is struggling to scratch a living."Now we all will have to work. This house has women. I am the old mother-in-law. I have a daughter-in-law and a daughter. We all will have to find some work for our sustenance," she said.She's now joined other grieving parents on the protest front lines to fight against laws they believe will only lead to more tragedy."I will not stop protesting for what is right," she said. "Without protest nothing is possible. Any rights that we aspire to attain will only come through protest."The new laws don't just affect the landowners and the land workers, but also the middle men who used to buy the produce at fixed prices.<h2><a href="https://www.facebook.com/313820309356251/videos/1866407880175013">See the full story on Business Insider Weekly »</a></h2>

India has a farmer suicide epidemic - and farmers are protesting new laws they fear will make things worse

The horrendous killing of a man at the farmers' protest site on the <keyword id="2802822" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="singhu-border" source="Orion">Singhu border</keyword> has had a chilling effect on Indian politics. In the wee hours of Friday on the <keyword id="10347936" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="singhu" source="Orion">Singhu</keyword> border dividing Haryana and Delhi when Lakhbir Singh (30), a resident of Tarn Taran district in Punjab, was seen carrying the Sarbloh Granth ⁠— a Sikh religious scripture . News agency IANS reported citing several sources that Lakhbir was staying with a group of Nihang Sikhs on the Singhu border for the past 3 to 4 days. When confronted, Lakhbir was unable to answer a barrage of questions. This led to an argument, drawing the attention of other protestors present there. The fracas occurred at around 3 am on Friday. Lakhbir was then accused of desecrating the holy Sarbloh Granth. The arguments soon turned violent and the man's hand was allegedly chopped off amid the chaos. Since then, several gruesome videos surfaced on social media that depicted the brutal act of the crime. The cops received the first information about the incident at around 5 am but they refrained from divulging any details about the suspects. The umbrella body of the protesting farmers, Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), said in a statement that a Nihang group at the scene has claimed responsibility for the act, and the SKM has disassociated themselves from the group. The body was found at the same place where the farmers have been protesting against the three contentious farm laws for the past one year. The atmosphere on the Singhu border, which has remained an active podium for the farmers to register their protest against the three farm laws, was tense on Friday. With inputs from IANS SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/from-home-sales-and-jewellery-to-power-consumption-these-sectors-are-back-to-pre-pandemic-levels/articleshow/86976154.cms">From home sales and jewellery to power consumption, these are all the sectors that are back to pre-pandemic levels</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/rbi-has-barred-one-of-the-countrys-top-auditors-from-looking-at-the-books-of-any-company-regulated-by-the-central-bank/articleshow/86961150.cms">RBI has barred one of the country's top auditors from looking at the books of any company regulated by the central bank</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/tata-motors-rallies-10-as-tpgs-billion-dollars-spark-a-series-of-upgrades-for-the-stock/articleshow/86984068.cms">Tata Motors rallies 10% as TPG’s billion dollars spark a series of upgrades for the stock</a>

India's farmers protest takes a gruesome turn with a chilling murder at the scene ⁠— here’s the sequence of events

<keyword id="90232" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="North-India">North India</keyword> faces an annual trauma as winter approaches -- the air in the region having more than 200 million people becomes toxic. 
 
Fingers are pointed at the hand that feeds India; farmers in the granary of the country are rebuked asking them not to burn agriculture waste in their fields as their action fouls the air in mega cities like New Delhi, Lucknow, and Allahabad. 
 There is no doubt that after the monsoon ends the vast paddy fields in India's granary <keyword id="41646" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Haryana">Haryana</keyword> and <keyword id="6354953" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Punjab">Punjab</keyword> turn into cremation grounds where the left-over paddy straw is burnt in vast swathes. 
 The fires are so much and so widespread that satellites flying hundreds of kilometers above the <keyword id="6359982" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="earth">Earth</keyword> record their presence. 
 This is also the time when generally the westerly winds prevail and a giant plume of smoke covers north India. <keyword id="6358065" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Satellite">Satellite</keyword> pictures depict the smoke plume with clarity and alarm bells starting ringing in the corridors of power in India's capital, as per a news report by an agency. 
 
Last winter, even the Chief Justice of India passed strict orders and even contributed his ritual bit by car-pooling, despite his efforts the air remains toxic. Delhi's air is a complex cocktail of noxious exhausts from automobiles, industry, thermal power plants and 'charvested' or burnt fields. Nobody really knows who is the bigger culprit. 
 
But it is easy to point fingers at the farmers little realizing that behind the farmers burning agricultural waste is the deep-deep crisis that is brewing in agriculture and it is hugely interlinked to all the elementary ingredients for a healthy life, air, water and land. 
 
The second big problem arises once the crop has been harvested which happens during the post-monsoon season, at that point, the rice grains are sold at government-determined minimum support prices and the farmers are left with large amounts of straw. Unfortunately straw from paddy contains a lot of silica and is very rough and hence bovines find it very difficult to eat it. Now when the farmers are in a hurry to plant the next crop, they are left with no alternative but to hurriedly burn the agri-waste. 
 According to a recent <keyword id="3775495" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="state-of-environment-of-punjab">State of Environment of Punjab</keyword> published by the local government "open field burning of straw after combine harvesting is a common practice in the state in order to ensure early preparation of fields for the next crop. Punjab produces around 23 million tons of rice straw and 17 million tons of wheat straw annually. 
 
So when most farmers are custodians of innate native wisdom why are they indulging in such profligate and damaging practices, unfortunately it is really the government's agri-economic policies that are to blame. 
 
Subsidised or free electricity to farmers makes them use their pump sets endlessly and then on top of it an assured minimum support price gives them a ready market, leaving no incentive to be considerate towards the top soil, deep acquirers and mother earth in general and now this new headache of being dubbed the fountain head of wide spread air pollution. 
 
A comprehensive restructuring of the agricultural economy is required if denizens of Delhi and north India don't want to choke to death.

Here’s how Delhi’s pollution
rise during the winter can be curbed

India’s main opposition party The Indian National Congress has raised the stakes for the incumbent Narendra Modi government. On Monday, Congress president <keyword id="5268" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rahul-Gandhi">Rahul Gandhi</keyword> promised a minimum income guarantee for every poor person if the party won the 2019 elections. The Modi administration is also reportedly preparing to unveil its own income support in the upcoming interim budget. What is the promise from Congress President Rahul Gandhi? Congress has promised to give the country’s poor a minimum amount of money from the government as monthly income, but hasn’t specified how much it will be. Is it the same as universal basic income (UBI)? It is unlikely to be the same as UBI, which by definition would mean an assured amount of money from the government to every citizen of the country. However, minimum income guarantee may only be available to people below a certain income threshold. How much will it cost the government? It is difficult to ascertain the cost without the details of the programme. India’s total population is 1.36 billion, of which 22% of people below poverty line. Assuming that the government supports only those below the poverty line, it will still have to pay nearly 300 million people a fixed sum of money every month. India Ratings estimates that the BJP's potential income support scheme, to be released in its budget, could end up costing at least ₹1.5 trillion a year - or 0.7% of GDP - in the absence of other support schemes. Separately, SBI’s Chief Economist Soumya Kanti Ghosh recently <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/what-if-interim-budget-2019-replaces-subsidy-with-cash-transfer/articleshow/67658379.cms">estimated</a> that about 143 million farmers get one kind of subsidy or another. Accounting for possible omissions for lack of proper identification of beneficiaries and for those who have no land or documentation, the report said that the cost of giving direct cash transfer in lieu of subsidy will be about ₹1.2 trillion a year. Meanwhile, Pranab Bardhan, professor of graduate school at the department of economics, University of California, Berkeley, estimated that if a scheme like the UBI were to be implemented, the government would have to pay ₹16,000 per household and it would cost ₹2.1 trillion a year, or 1.25% of the gross domestic product (GDP). Government has 940 centrally sponsored schemes, according to a <a href="http://www.iitd.ac.in/CEAIITD/pdfs/3/MOOC_Sub&amp;UBI_14Jun_v10.pdf">report </a>from former Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian in 2016. According to that estimate, the cost of giving every citizen some money every month would cost the exchequer about 4-5% of GDP. Who will bear the cost? If the central government raises taxes on the rich, the additional burden will be on the really well-off. However, it may affect the political donations that help parties fight elections. Raising the burden of middle-class taxpayer may have a political cost and won't win votes. If the government borrows money to fund additional expense, the burden will be on every taxpayer in the form of higher interest cost, weaker rupee and higher inflation. Can India afford such a huge burden? In theory, something like a minimum income guarantee can be funded by three ways: withdrawing or reducing existing subsidies or by raising taxes on richer sections of the people. So to give poor people given minimum income, would everyone else lose subsidies or pay more tax? Not necessarily. And certainly, no one will lose all subsidies. The subsidies available from the state governments will continue. If at all, only the central government subsidies may be withdrawn once it implements minimum income guarantee. So, if you live in Tamil Nadu or Punjab and get subsidised electricity, that will likely continue. Raising taxes will be a different matter. So which of the central government subsidies remain? As of now, the biggest subsidies that the central government offers are on food, fuel, fertilisers, liquified petroleum gas (LPG) cooking cylinders, as well as on tax and interest rates to specific sections of the population. One cannot say for sure how the government chooses to rationalise the existing subsidies. Can they withdraw food subsidy? Unlikely. Food subsidies are made available through the public distribution system, or ration shops, and are unlikely to be dismantled. 52.3% of all households purchased cereals from ration shops in 2011-12 compared to 27% in 2004-05, according to a Niti Aayog <a href="https://niti.gov.in/writereaddata/files/document_publication/Final%20PDS%20Report-new.pdf">report</a> from 2016. It won’t be a politically savvy move to increase the cost of food for half of the country’s households in one go. India also has a law that gives every citizen a right to affordable food, with the National Food Security Act 2013. So no government can withdraw food security without going back to the Parliament for permission. Do we still get fuel subsidy? While petrol and diesel prices have been deregulated, kerosene prices are subsidised as it is used mostly by the very poor and bought at ration shops. While the cost of kerosene subsidy was budgeted in February 2018 at about ₹4,500 crore, withdrawing the support will only hurt the poorest. What about the subsidy on cooking gas? The subsidy on LPG cooking cylinders is already transferred online to the eligible buyers. Current prime minister Narendra Modi pushed millions of Indians to adopt LPG cylinders instead of coal hearths. [hyperlink] Now, it will be a politically sensitive decision for any party to withdraw benefits on basic necessities like LPG, especially after literally forcing them to use it. What about fertilisers? Fertiliser subsidies are once again availed by farmers and the recent rural distress will make it difficult for the government to withdraw any farm subsidy. Moreover, India <a href="https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/india-to-continue-importing-fertiliser-in-medium-term-ind-ra-study/article24679053.ece">imports</a> 28% of all the fertilisers it needs, according to India Ratings and Research. On one hand the global prices of fertilisers have been rising, and the weaker rupee has made these imported fertilisers even more expensive. Withdrawing fertiliser subsidy will make farmers really angry. What about health and education subsidy? Ayushman Bharat, a scheme that was launched in 2018, is a centrally sponsored insurance programme targeting 10 crore families across India who are either poor and deprived or identified as urban workers' families. It covers hospitalisation cost up to ₹5 lakhs a year, and is likely to continue. Primary health centres are at funded by state governments. Central government subsidises higher education in places like IITs, IIMs, AIIMS, JNU etc, which are also likely to stay. What are interest subsidies? Often, the state-owned banks offer cheap loans to different sections of the population and the government bears the difference in interest rate. But don’t India’s farmers already get a lot of subsidies? Yes, India’s farmers are entitled to minimum support (MSP) price on their produce. Even if the market price of the crop is less than the MSP, the government is supposed to make for the difference. However, while many governments have either promised or increased the MSP, the <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/msp-kharif-crops-narendra-modi-minimum-support-price-gst-farmers-5270286/">net impact </a>on the farmers has been minimal. “No matter how hard the government tries, it cannot procure even 25% of the production of various kharif crops, except in paddy and cotton, as a robust procurement system does not exist for other crops,” experts at Indian Council For Research On International Economic Relations commented in July 2018. Therefore, withdrawing key subsidies, including those on fertilisers or interest on loans, will make the minimum income guarantee a zero-sum offer for the farmers. Will MGNREGA continue? Yes, it’s an employment guarantee scheme, not a subsidy. People are assured a certain number of days of work every year, for which they are paid. Is the Congress' promise a political gimmick? Minimum income guarantee will allow poor people to poor people to access basic necessities. Of course, this is assuming that the minimum amount given to the people is enough to cover their basic expenses. Further, the government will have to ensure that the infrastructure is in place to implement a massive programme like this in a complex country like India. The biggest problem in India is that it is very difficult to accurately identify those who need such a programme. So to analyse the merits of the promise, we will need more details. See more <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/Presidential-ego-or-a-dynasts-charm-what-Indian-voters-like-is-still-a-mystery-to-the-countrys-politicians/articleshow/67685811.cms">Presidential ego or a dynast’s charm — what Indian voters like is still a mystery to the country’s politicians</a>

Explained: What is minimum income guarantee and how it may work?

<keyword id="644986" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Heatwaves" source="Orion">Heatwaves</keyword> somewhere, <keyword id="48088" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="floods" source="Orion">floods</keyword> in other parts of the country – India has witnessed extreme <keyword id="14334985" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="weather-patterns-in-2022" source="Orion">weather patterns in 2022</keyword> and we are only just halfway through the year. <div type="image" title="India has witnessed extreme weather patterns in 2022" msid="92584664" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;India has witnessed extreme weather patterns in 2022 &amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Erratic monsoon in India India is witnessing <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/lifestyle/nature-and-wildlife/article/erratic-rainfall-pattern-in-india-amid-climate-change-warns-ipcc-report-23223005">erratic</a> rainfall after suffering from intense heat waves in April. On one hand, Assam has received <a href="https://weather.com/en-IN/india/monsoon/news/2022-06-24-southwest-monsoon-to-cover-india-entirely-between-june-30-and-july-6">too much</a> rainfall and on the other, Jharkhand has received around half of what it’s due. The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/the-winds-of-change-are-changing-the-fortunes-of-indian-farmers/articleshow/92487685.cms">easterly winds</a> that bring monsoon to the Northwest India have been absent in June this year, leading to a dry spell in the region. Instead, those winds drifted to Northeast India, leading to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/the-winds-of-change-are-changing-the-fortunes-of-indian-farmers/articleshow/92487685.cms">floods</a>. As June came to an end, as per <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1542378873492344835">IMD</a>, Southwest monsoon advanced into entire Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmiri, some parts of Rajasthan, entire Delhi, some parts of Punjab and Haryana on Thursday. According to the latest EcoScope report from research firm Motilal Oswal, India’s cumulative rainfall has a reported deficit of 7% as of June 26, 2022 after reporting a surplus of 20% in 2021 and 22% in 2020. The deficiency of rainfall is because the northwestern, central and southern parts of India have a shortfall of rains, suggesting that the issue is a lot more widespread than initially expected. <div type="image" title="The northwestern, central and southern parts of India have a shortfall of rains" msid="92584693" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The northwestern, central and southern parts of India have a shortfall of rains&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> A see-saw summer From long dry spells to excessive rainfall, 2022 has been a year of extremes so far. As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD), April was the <a href="https://internal.imd.gov.in/press_release/20220402_pr_1551.pdf">hottest</a> month for northwest and central India and the third-hottest April the country has seen over the past 122 years, from 1901 to 2022. The daily high temperatures measured each year have also been increasing at a faster rate than daily low temperatures. This indicates that the distribution of temperature is shifting and <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/02/india-heat-wave-in-pictures.html">changing</a> the ‘normal’ state. In fact, 12 of the country’s 15 <a href="https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1686173">warmest years</a> on record have occurred in the last 30 years. <div type="image" title="12 of the country’s 15 warmest years on record have occurred in the last 30 years" msid="92584779" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;12 of the country&amp;#8217;s 15 warmest years on record have occurred in the last 30 years&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> These recurring patterns of intense hot spells and erratic rainfall could be a sign of climate change and global warming. Our country is also expected to suffer through more frequent and intense hot spells, extreme rainfall and erratic monsoons in the coming decades as the planet warms, said <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/india-s-record-heatwave-to-get-worse-authorities-blame-global-warming-122042900785_1.html">United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel</a>, a body for assessing science related to climate change. Cascading impacts of climate change This radical change in the weather is not good news for a country like India, which is heavily dependent on agriculture as it contributes <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2021/10/extreme-weather-becomes-the-new-normal-in-indias-main-monsoon-season/">16-20% to GDP</a>, according to Finance Ministry data. In a country like India farmers are heavily dependent on monsoons for irrigating their fields, erratic rainfall and hot summer are the bane for their cultivation. According to a <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.LND.IRIG.AG.ZS">World Bank report</a>, as of 2015, nearly 62% of the agricultural lands in India are dependent on monsoon rains for irrigation. As of 24th Jun’22, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/the-winds-of-change-are-changing-the-fortunes-of-indian-farmers/articleshow/92487685.cms">Kharif sowing</a> is 24% lower than the area sown last year. <div type="image" title="Kharif sowing is 24% lower than the area sown last year" msid="92584805" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Kharif sowing is 24% lower than the area sown last year&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The 2022 summer, which was ridden with heatwaves, led to cascading impacts not just on human health, but also on ecosystems such as agriculture, water and energy supplies. Power demand spiked and coal inventories dropped, leaving the country with its worst <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/why-are-there-power-cuts-and-heatwave-in-india/articleshow/91177785.cms">power shortage</a> in more than six years. The heat wave also <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/india/after-five-record-crops-heat-wave-threatens-indias-wheat-output-export-plans-2022-05-02/">threatened</a> India’s wheat output plan. According to a World Meteorological Organization report released in 2020, India lost more than <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/india-lost-87-billion-to-climate-disasters-in-2020-report-101635272896946.html">$87 billion</a> (approx. ₹6.8 lakh crore) due to disasters such as cyclones, floods and droughts. However, there’s still hope to <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/2022/04/04/ipcc-ar6-wgiii-pressrelease/">control</a> climate change. It will involve a substantial reduction in fossil fuel use, widespread electrification, improved energy efficiency, and use of alternative fuels (such as hydrogen).

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India has a farmer suicide epidemic - and farmers are protesting new laws they fear will make things worse

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India's farmers protest takes a gruesome turn with a chilling murder at the scene ⁠— here’s the sequence of events

BI India Bureau

Here’s how Delhi’s pollution rise during the winter can be curbed

BI India Bureau

Explained: What is minimum income guarantee and how it may work?

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SIMPLY PUT: Extreme weather is the new normal in India

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