-DNA Farmers' suicides are as much a consequence of indebtedness as the failure of the government to offer solutions to make agriculture a viable profession. Astring of farmers' suicides, in the aftermath of hailstorms and unseasonal rainfall over the past fortnight, in Maharashtra sheds light on the parlous state of Indian agriculture. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) statistics tell us that over 2.8 lakh farmers have committed suicide since 1995. Though attempts...

-The Business Standard Inflation has cooled in recent months but the next monsoon holds the key. With fear of an El Niño effect impacting it, academicians and policy makers are worried about the possible impact on farm output and food inflation. Prabhu Pingali, director of the Tata-Cornell Agriculture and Nutrition Initiative at Cornell University and former director of the agricultural and development economics division of the Food and Agriculture Organization,...

-The Business Standard The rural non-farm sector has emerged as India's largest job creator since 2000 and needs to play a pivotal role in our structural transformation Job creation has to be a pressing priority for any new government. But it is worthwhile trying to understand the nature of our employment challenge. The unemployment rate, as understood in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) world, is not a very useful indicator...

-Press Information Bureau (Election Commission) General Elections are held to elect representatives for Lok Sabha after normally, every five years. Every election requires a huge amount of resources and efforts, be it planning, labour, technology, and for that matter, money. From the first Lok Sabha Elections in 1951-52 till the fifteenth in 2009, it has been a long journey for democracy. Government's expenditure on an elector has gone up manifold, twenty...

-The Financial Express The Indian success story increasingly looks like a tale of naivety and optimistic complacency. The Indian success story increasingly looks like a tale of naivety and optimistic complacency, with the fantasy of ‘India Shining' obfuscating the reality of widespread deprivation. Despite rapid economic growth during the past decade, millions continue to live in poverty and hunger. The Indian government aims to address abject hunger and malnutrition with the National Food...