-Livemint.com Farm politics became defunct due to sustained increases in crop prices In a year of crisis for Indian agriculture all kinds of solutions have been proposed. Stock answers range from farm loan waivers to halting amendments to the law on land acquisition. Leaders such as Rahul Gandhi have even taken to well-publicized padyatras. There is something of a Who Killed Cock Robin quality to all this. What no one is...

-The Hindu It was resolved that all IMA members shall write drugs with chemical or generic name in capital letters A resolution was passed at the recent working committee meeting of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) that is likely to have the direct benefit of making drugs more accessible and affordable. It was resolved that all IMA members “shall write drugs with chemical or generic name in capital letters, and the name of...

-The Hindu Business Line Overuse of groundwater, fertiliser and energy threatens the future of agriculture. A coherent policy response is called for India's agricultural sector is far more important to the country than its falling share in the GDP suggests. About two-thirds of India's population depends on agriculture for livelihood. Bucking global trends, the agricultural population in India rose by 50 per cent between 1980 and 2011. And in spite of sustained...

-The Indian Express   New Delhi: Unseasonal rainfall accompanied by strong winds is seen to have caused significant damage to the standing rabi crop across North and Central India, adding to the woes of farmers already battling low price realisations and urea shortages. "These rains aren't beneficial for 90 per cent of the wheat, mustard or chana (chickpea) now in the fields. They may be useful only to the wheat that was sown...

-Economic and Political Weekly The National Sample Survey Office's survey of consumption expenditure is woefully inadequate for estimating the number of food-insecure households in India. Future surveys of NSSO need to collect information on the four pillars of food security: availability, access, nutritional adequacy/utilisation and stability. The Comprehensive Nutrition Survey in Maharashtra is an example of such a survey and appears to do a decent job of capturing the different elements...