-The Hindu Business Line Given the analytical output, it will become easier for governments to take decisions Global country risks, weather uncertainty, crop failure, lack of hedging instruments, increased capital costs, lack of insurance mechanisms and logistical bottlenecks are just a few of the issues that lead to volatility in prices of agricultural commodities. This volatility, combined with a steady increase in demand for food around the world, has forced us to accept...

-The Hindu   When an electoral system structurally discriminates against particular categories such as persons with disabilities, it is tantamount to a failure of the democracy as a whole The citizens of India are in the process of casting their votes in what is being widely hailed as the largest election in human history. By sheer size, the 16th Lok Sabha elections signal a triumph not only for India, but for democratic exercises...

-The Hindu For India, which has successfully kept naturally-occurring ‘wild' polioviruses at bay for three whole years, a new challenge looms. India is among 140 countries that rely on the oral polio vaccine (OPV). These countries have now been asked to introduce an injectable inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) into their routine childhood immunisation programme by the end of next year. The oral vaccine, which is cheap and easily administered, uses live but weakened...

-The Business Standard The recent US-India friction over trade is being driven by Big Pharma Apart from the deterioration of the business environment generally, which impacts both domestic and foreign investors, retrospective taxation has figured most prominently in the media as the principal cause of growing scepticism among foreign investors. Entirely missing from the discourse has been an equally potent factor with wholly foreign origins: the hijacking of the economic policy...

-The Hindu Business Line The risk of water availability is a painful reality in south Asian agriculture including India. Any deviation from the monsoon causes problems for the farm community and poses threat to food security in the region. The variability in precipitation in India has actually increased in recent years. While comparing the variability of precipitation (given by standard deviation) between two phases, 1950-75 and 1976-2010, in two geographically dispersed districts...