Best of BS Opinion: Time for farm reforms, clean up credit rating agencies

From farm sector reforms to US-China trade conflict, here's a selection of Business Standard Opinion pieces for the day

An appeal for meaningful agriculture reforms, an argument for rules-based global trade, and a call for credit rating agencies to salvage their reputation. Pallav Nayak sums up the views.

Senior professionals of credit rating agencies (CRAs) engaged by IL&FS took gifts and favours for keeping the now-disgraced company on a high pedestal, says the interim report of a forensic audit. The trust between the CRAs and investors is broken. The onus is on the CRAs to come out clean or face the wrath of the markets, writes Tamal Bandyopadhyay. Read the piece here

The Central government's decision to amend the Fifteenth Finance Commission's mandate and ask it to "secure" funds for India’s defence goes against federalism. It gives the Centre more space to spend on its own political priorities at the expense of the states, says our first edit. Read the piece here

The idea of leveraging Central government finances for nudging states to hasten farm sector reforms is not new. Such reforms must restore profitability and mitigate farmers’ lingering financial woes, says our second edit. Read the piece here

The Economic Survey explicitly called for encouraging investment-led growth, but a key theme of the Budget was a strategy to rely on greater foreign savings. Can these two ideas co-exist, explains Sajjid Z Chinoy. Read the piece here

A San Francisco-based couple’s social media post seeking open source research and treatment for their young daughter afflicted by a genetic mutation could prove revolutionary. Crowd-sourced research can disrupt the traditional model of drug development, writes Devangshu Datta. Read the piece here

India has opportunities in the US-China trade conflict, but it should rein in talk that a neighbour’s loss is its gain. India should be attractive to global companies, but it should know that it will lose if the rules-based world of globalisation declines, writes Ajay Shah. Read the piece here

Sheila Dikshit, the former Delhi chief minister who passed away last week, managed rival arguments by seeking collaborative solutions. Her skills are even more important in today’s age of polarised politics, writes Sunita Narain. Read the piece here

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"People of Kashmir are (keen) to join mainstream of development. The power of development is stronger than the might of bullets and bombs." 

-- Prime Minister Narendra Modi