-The Indian Express Government has been speaking in two tongues on intellectual property. Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his desire to see India adhere to “global” IP standards. The United States Trade Representative (USTR) was quick to latch on to this, noting in its latest Special 301 report: “The United States also welcomes April 2015 statements made by Prime Minister Modi recommending that India align its patent laws with international...
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Do April conditions in the Pacific Ocean point to a decisive El Nino this year? -Vinson Kurian
-The Hindu Business Line Probably yes, says Chennai blogger tracking weather from 1950 Thiruvananthapuram: When does an El Nino (warming of the east and equatorial Pacific) create widespread rain deficit over India during the monsoon? K Srikanth, Chennai-based blogger and weather enthusiast, has found from a study that between 1950 and 2012, five years have seen 50 per cent or more meteorological divisions suffer deficit rainfall. Carry-over nino “If one observes the pattern, these years...
More »If it doesn’t rain -Shweta Saini & Ashok Gulati
-The Indian Express We need a contingency plan that combines real-time technology with robust insurance and easy credit. On April 22, 2015 the Indian Met Department (IMD) released its first forecast for the upcoming monsoon rains, saying it is likely to be below normal, at 93 per cent of the long period average (LPA). Only a week before that, on April 15, a private forecaster, Skymet, had predicted normal rains (102...
More »India's Rural Jobs Programme: A Dismal Appraisal -Jean Drèze
-HuffingtonPost.in In the backdrop of workers taking to the streets on Labour Day to protest against their status, here is why the government's rural jobs guarantee programme presents an alarming picture today. Declining expenditure Central Government expenditure on NREGA declined from Rs 40,100 crores in 2010-11 to Rs 38,597 crores in 2014-5. In real terms, this means a decline of about 30% over four years. As a ratio of GDP, Central Government expenditure...
More »Killing fields -AR Vasavi
-The Hindu Gajendra Singh Rajput from Dausa. Hargovind Harane from Vidarbha . Gosai Patra from Bardhaman. Why did these farmers take their own lives? In the light of the burning issue of farmer suicides across the country, A.R. Vasavi looks at the plight of the marginalised cultivator. Basamma and her ailing husband have carried and spread their five sacks of ragi (finger millet) from their half-acre plot to the local tar road...
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