It is apparent to everyone that the Copenhagen Accord is a travesty of what the world needs to avert climate change. Instead of an ambitious, effective, equitable and binding treaty with stringent emissions-cut targets for developed nations, we have a hollow Accord without legal status. The North has  offered a 16 per cent emissions-cut when 40-45 per cent is needed. Years of talks have been set at nought by a...

The current food inflation is a result of food output growth not keeping pace with population growth Few recall that, just last month, there was a food security summit in Rome. In sharp contrast to the almost overwhelming coverage of the Copenhagen climate summit, it attracted far lesser attention from the heads of governments, as also from the media. This is somewhat strange as a food (and water) crisis can hit...

यह बात अब आधिकारिक सूचना में आ चुकी है कि भारत में गरीबी पहले के अनुमानों से कहीं ज्यादा है। इस माह की 9 तारीख को सौंपी गई सुरेश तेंदुलकर समिति की रिपोर्ट में कहा गया है कि भारत में गरीबी 37 फीसदी(2004-05) है ना कि 28 फीसदी, जैसा कि पहले के आकलनों में माना जाता रहा है।यदि तेंदुलकर समिति के आकलन में खाद्य पदार्थों की कीमतों में हुई मौजूदा बढ़ोतरी को जोड़ दें...

It used to be a quip in the 1970s that estimation of poverty in India is stymied by the poverty of estimation. The other joke was that far too many economists and statisticians had prospered trying to estimate poverty! So, we have yet another estimate of poverty in India. Rural poverty numbers for 2004-05 are up from the earlier estimate of 28.3 per cent to 41.8 per cent — with...

India needs to initiate a number of steps to manage the emerging situation.  After three consecutive good years, agricultural production has faltered in the last two years. There was a fall in production to the tune of 1.6 per cent in 2008-2009 compared to the previous year. This year, again, agricultural production is likely to be down by 2 per cent or more. The deceleration in the growth of foodgrain...