-PTI India’s index of industrial production contracted by 0.7 per cent in August, the second month in a row that it has remained in negative territory, following a slump in manufacturing, mining and capitals goods segments. Factory output as measured by movement in the IIP had slipped to an eight-month low of (-)2.49 (revised) in July on account of declining output in manufacturing and capital goods sectors. The IIP slump in August is...

-The Hindu A more progressive Central law on land acquisition is now in place, but several States have already either amended the new law or enacted legislation of their own. On August 31, the Supreme Court in Kedar Nath Yadav v. State of West Bengal delivered one of the most momentous decisions of the year. It invalidated the expropriation of land in Singur by the erstwhile Left Front government in Bengal, and...

-Down to Earth The total health burden arising from poor diet exceeds the combined burden of unsafe sex, alcohol, drug and tobacco use     The Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition and the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) jointly launched the South Asian Policy Initiative for Improved Nutrition and Growth (SAPLING), a policy initiative to improve nutrition and diet in South Asian countries, on October 6, in New...

-Livemint.com Courts are finally protecting individual liberty in prohibition and beef ban cases The politics of alcohol consumption and cow slaughter have, of late, run roughshod over issues of constitutional law and philosophy. The Patna high court’s recent judgement on prohibition in Bihar—especially when read together with the Bombay high court’s earlier beef ban verdict—is a necessary redressal of the balance. These judgements are a nuanced look at how the relationship...

-PTI Washington: Automation threatens 69 per cent of the jobs in India, while 77 per cent in China, according to a World Bank research which has said that technology could fundamentally disrupt the pattern of traditional economic path in developing countries. "As we continue to encourage more investment in infrastructure to promote growth, we also have to think about the kinds of infrastructure that countries will need in the economy of the...