Despite the Maharashtra government's farm loan waiver scheme to "settle" the agrarian debts of farmers, the number of farmers committing suicide in the state continues to rise. The state has witnessed a total of 696 farmer suicides in the initial three months of 2018. Though the state government had declared farm loan waiver in June last year, the figure is much higher than the number of cases that were reported during the same period last year, which was 672.
The Vidarbha region has recorded a slight dip in the cases with 329 cases, compared to 353 cases of last year. However, the Vidarbha region has marked the highest number of agriculturists committing suicide. On the other hand, Marathwada, Northern Maharashtra and Western Maharashtra regions have been seen a rise in the farmer suicides.
Comment: There were early reports that Julia's boyfriend was "close to Putin", but that angle has been memory-holed. Whatever is going on, it's certainly strange. There was no indication Julia planned on "defecting". And the lack of any public communication with her throws into question the statements made on her behalf by the British authorities - especially when said statements include that she doesn't want anyone speaking on her behalf. It looks as if the Russians might be right: Julia and her father are being held against their will and refused any contact with the outside world.