It is rare for the middle class to find direct mention in Indian Prime Ministers'  Independence Day speech. Farmer issues and the sufferings of the poor usually dominate PM Modi's Independence Day speeches.

CAG questions their decision to allocate CSR funds for construction of the world's tallest statue.

Earlier on June 18, India and China jointly submitted a proposal to the WTO calling for the elimination - by developed countries - of the most trade-distorting form of farm subsidies.

The NDA regime has announced a steep increase in minimum support price for 14 kharif crops. The question is, will this mitigate the mounting rural distress? Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh walks Business Today through his blueprint for increased procurement and distribution.

A draft 'Punjab State Farmers' Policy', put out for stakeholder consultations by PSFC identifies over a dozen key areas where government attention is necessary.

The report says despite all its achievements, Indian agriculture is still grappling with challenges like high monsoon dependency, unpredictable weather patterns, reduction in arable land, low per hectare yield, lower farmer incomes, etc.

While the farmers were expecting the government to be more generous, the announced hike is just enough to meet an increase in input costs from last year.

Despite government initiatives, India's exports have remained below the 2013/14 levels. Exporters' GST problems and rising trade barriers suggest fast growth is unlikely to materialise.

Hoping to overcome the villagers' resistance, the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited, the nodal body to implement the project, has tweaked its strategy to ensure that the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train is on track for a 2022 launch and is agreeing to many of the conditions.

The superstar had earlier sponsored the repayment of farmer loans in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra's Vidarbha as well.

Citing government officials, a Reuters report claims that the Japan-backed $17 billion project is likely to miss its December deadline to acquire land due to protests by fruit growers in Maharashtra.

With the Cabinet approving the National Policy on Biofuels, there is renewed hope for a cleaner environment in the not-too-distant future.

Speculative buying pushed sugar prices by Rs 200 per quintal at wholesale market in national capital on Friday. According to reports, supply from sugar mills remained thin amid brisk demand.

A day before the Central Government approved a Rs 7,000 crore sugar package to help domestic sugar mills tide over their liquidity crisis, Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA), the apex industry lobby group, had made a written submission to Ram Vilas Paswan, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

Singh said greater emphasis is being given to agricultural education, research and extension activities and extension of the facilities for irrigation, low-cost organic farming, crop insurance, national agricultural market, horticulture development and agro forestry remain focus areas.

Farmers protests make fresh fruits, vegetables expensive; restaurants may also increase pricesIt's Day 5 of the ongoing nationwide agitation by farmers, and if its runs the planned course till June 10, not only is the supply and price situation of fresh produce likely to worsen but there may also be spill-over effects on dining out. According to The Economic Times, ecommerce firms like BigBasket and Grofers have managed to so far keep prices in check because of pre-arranged supplies but that may not last much longer. \"We have a farmer connect and so are able to maintain and control prices. But if prices go up, we may have no choice but to react accordingly,\" BigBasket's fruits and vegetables head Vipul Mittal told the daily, adding that the etailer may look at sourcing from other states.Sugar belt in deep crisisIn a move to address the crisis in the sugar belt, especially in western Uttar Pradesh, the Centre is all set to announce a set of relief measures for sugarcane farmers. Government sources said a package of around Rs 8,000 crore may be announced to reduce the stress in the sugar industry with an eye on clearing the dues of sugarcane farmers. The first measure in the package, sources said, will include creation of a buffer stock of 30 LMT (lakh metric tonnes). This quantity of sugar will remain in the godowns of mills, but the entire carrying cost (towards interest, storage and insurance charges) of around Rs 1,200 crore would be met by the government as reported by the Indian Express. This should improve the liquidity of mills, enabling them to pay farmers.IRCTC to introduce eco-friendly food packaging on Rajdhani, Shatabdi trainsIndian Railways' catering arm, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) took a significant step in its commitment towards preserving the environment. IRCTC launched its trial run of eco-friendly food packaging on 8 select Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains from New Delhi. Passengers on these trains would be served meals on eco-friendly disposable plates instead of the polymer ones. Railways' green initiative is replacing these polymer utensils with bagasse-based ones. Bagasse is a fibrous substance that is left after the juice is extracted from sugar cane. This substance will be used to make disposable cutlery and containers for passengers.Bengaluru, Kolkata drive growth of shared rides in IndiaAccording to Ola, its 'Share' service has clocked 2x growth in the past one year with Bengaluru and Kolkata emerging as the top two cities in terms of adoption, followed by Chennai and Mumbai as reported by PTI. The company, which launched 'Ola Share' in October 2015 that is now operating in 36 cities, attributed the growth in adoption to improved awareness and customer experience. Uber, too, saw similar trends. As per the Green Index released by the American firm, Bengaluru registered the highest number of 'POOL' trips taken, followed by Delhi and Kolkata.Microsoft confirms Github acquisition at $7.5 billionTech giant Microsoft is all set to acquire GitHub. According to a report by TheVerge, Microsoft officially confirmed it will acquire GitHub at $7.5 billion. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was a factor in GitHub's choice for Microsoft as GitHub was impressed by Nadella. GitHub is a vast code repository which has become popular with developers. It deals with their projects, documentation and code and is used by big companies like Amazon, Google, Apple etc. Microsoft, by far, contributes most to the site. It has more than 1,000 employees who actively push code to repositories on GitHub.

It's Day 5 of the ongoing nationwide agitation by farmers, and if its runs the planned course till June 10, not only is the supply and price situation of fresh produce likely to worsen but there may also be spill-over effects on dining out.

Close on the heels of the opposition raised by RSS affiliated groups like Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), over 100 civil society groups, including Left leaning trade unions, farmer organizations and trade associations have opposed  Walmart's $16 billion takeover bid for e-commerce firm Flipkart.