Every answer to question on Nitish Kumar's performance in the last five years as Bihar's chief minister begins with the phrase, ''Kam se kam itna toh kiya hai... (at the very least, he has done this...).''   By any index of growth and development, Nitish's five-year reign has unleashed no miracles. With 54.4% of its population under the Tendulkar Committee's revised poverty line, Bihar is India's poorest state and its health indicators...

State wants Centre to bear 25% of the cost Centre had earlier rejected the scheme The State government has resubmitted its project for distribution of essential commodities through ration shops to the Centre for assistance and proposes to lobby for it strongly. The project envisages distribution of 13 items, such as green gram, Bengal gram, split gram, coriander and chillies, through the ration shops in the State at subsidised rates. The State wants...

The downstream impact of dams in the Brahmaputra river basin has been a major issue of concern in recent years in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh (AP), even as plans unfold to develop at least 135 large hydropower projects to produce approximately 57,000 MW of electricity in AP alone. The past three months have seen major developments on the issue. Both an Expert Committee of Academics and a House Committee of...

Food inflation will defy government policies to remain in high single-digit levels in the long run, unless there is a change in an overwhelming bias among farmers towards staples such as wheat and rice, say economists and policymakers. A steady growth in population and rapidly rising income levels are adding to inflationary pressure at a time when agricultural productivity is showing a decline. A major reason is that the agriculture...

Climate change and global food shortages could bring unexpected benefits for British farmers in the next two decades, ultimately relieving taxpayers of the burden of subsidising them, Caroline Spelman, environment secretary, has claimed. Ms Spelman said the UK was unlikely to suffer the severe water shortages that scientists predict will afflict other parts of the world, and that British farmers should be able to exploit greater demand for their produce. “Countries that...