-Foundation of Agrarian Studies An influential section of Sri Lankan agricultural economists and scientists has deplored the recent course change in the country’s agricultural policy made by the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government. The decision by the government to ban the use and import of chemical fertilisers and pesticides in pursuit of a “100 per cent organic food producer” status for Sri Lanka has already had disastrous consequences for the economy of the...

-The Hindu A reduction in arrival of patients from other States due to the lockdown could explain under-count factor falling below one in 2020 The number of “excess deaths” registered by the Civil Registration System (CRS) in Delhi ever since the COVID-19 pandemic hit (from April 2020 to June 2021) was an estimated 55,239, which is 2.2 times the official reported figure of 24,977 COVID-19 deaths for the same period. The undercount factor...

Generally, economists refer to indicators like Worker Population Ratio (WPR), Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) and Unemployment Rate (UR) in order to assess the extent of joblessness and work related precarity at a particular period of time in a certain geographical area. However, there are other indicators too, which can help in understanding the job situation, livelihoods security and vulnerability of workers in a better way such as 'percentage distribution...

-TheWire.in Analysis of data from 68 of the state's 170 municipalities shows there were 16,892 'excess deaths' between March 2020 and April 2021. If extrapolated for the entire state, it would mean the actual COVID death toll in Gujarat is at least 2.81 lakh. New Delhi: In Kailash Mukti Dham, one of the two crematoriums in Amreli town in Gujarat, four furnaces lie in different states of wreckage. The iron grille that...

-TheWire.in It has been proven time and again that large 'development' projects, involving the blasting of fragile hills and constraining the flow of rivers, cause huge loss of lives and livelihoods in the Himalayan region. Two big landslides in the Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh which made national headlines have re-emphasised the need for ecologically protective development in geologically fragile and vulnerable hills. On August 11, a massive landslide on National Highway 5,...