-The Economic Times The fear of drought in India has abated with late precipitation of the monsoon in September this year. However, the country continues to suffer from a drought of formalised tabulated data of agro items on a real-time or monthly basis, though many estimates continue to fatigue the print and electronic media.  Red or green prices flashing on computer screens are taken for 'granted', but the discovery of future or...

-Tehelka The sentencing of Wall Street wizard Rajat Gupta in the historic insider trading case has led to the fall of a one-time icon for many Indians “This is where destiny is taking me.” This is what former Goldman Sachs Group Inc director, Rajat Gupta, told old friend Pramod Bhasin, as he sat with a glass of scotch in hand, in a mid-town bar in New York. Little did Gupta know how prophetic...

Rising Corn prices in the United States brought about by biofuel mandates have cost developing countries 6.6 billion dollars over the past six years, says a study by Global Development And Environment Institute at Tufts University (GDAE).  Net Food Importing Developing Countries, among the most vulnerable to food price increases, incurred ethanol-related costs of $2.1 billion, the study concludes. (See highlights and the links below). The recent spike in world food prices...

-Outlook Mumbai: Seeking to Corner the opposition on Maharashtra's irrigation scam, the Nationalist Congress Party demanded today that a white paper should cover functioning of all irrigation corporations in the state since its inception during the Sena-BJP government. Addressing a press conference, NCP spokesman Nawab Malik said that the Krishna Valley Development Corporation, Konkan Irrigation Development Corporation (KIDC), Tapi Irrigation Development Corporation (TIDC), Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC) and Godavari Marathwada Irrigation...

-The Hindustan Times The big difference within the Cabinet over the land acquisition bill revolves around the role of the state. Since land is to be acquired for infrastructure projects - India is relying on the private sector to come up with half the $1 trillion it will need to build ports, highways and power plants in the next five years - positions on either side of the debate are deeply...