-The Indian Express Tomatoes-onions-potatoes face extreme price volatility. Addressing it requires sustainable solutions, not temporary ad hoc measures. Last month, on September 13, when onion retail prices crossed Rs 40/kg in Delhi, the government was hyperactive and imposed a minimum export price (MEP) of $850/tonne. Later on, as prices went further up to Rs 50-60/kg, stocking limits were imposed on traders and exports of onions were banned. It created problems in...

-Hindustan Times It has also exempted projects with a proposed capacity expansion up to 40% from the requirement of public consultations, with certain riders. In a move that could Turn out to be a bonanza for the mining and infrastrucTure sectors, the environment ministry is considering a number of relaxations in the environment impact assessment (EIA) process that is carried out for development projects, including mining, before they are given the go-ahead. In...

-The Hindu Business Line A dispersed pattern of urbanisation leads to sprawl with higher motorisation and pollution. A new urban vision is needed India’s demographic dividend cannot be realised if young entrants to the labour force as well as potential migrants from agriculTure do not gain new livelihoods. Hastening of the strucTural transformation brings with it three mega-challenges for policy-makers: employment of migrants; growing urbanisation; and ensuring better education and vocational training...

-India Water Portal Deconstructing the traditional narrow engineering based policy discourses around floods and droughts and connecting them to social and culTural realities is the need of the hour in India. India has witnessed extreme weather conditions this year. While parts of the north and south have battled drought like conditions this summer, the northeast and western coastal areas witnessed heavy rains and floods. While climate change has been highlighted as one...

-The Hindu Business Line Noted Gandhian economist Dr Sudarshan Iyengar surveys the distressed agriculTural landscape, pinpoints its weaknesses, and prescribes solutions with their roots in Gandhian agronomics. Edited excerpts from an interview to BusinessLine: * Given the agrarian crisis in India today, how relevant are Gandhi's economic principles based on the village economy, and equitable distribution of resources? They are relevant in the context of Gandhi's view of gram swaraj (village self-rule), which...