Edible oil prices soared almost 10%-Rs 6 to 8 per kg-in the last one month, piling up pressure on the already vulnerable Food inflation. Palm oil, which accounts for nearly half of India's refined oil consumption, went up Rs 10 per kg following a sharp rally in international markets. India imported about eight million tonne, or half of its domestic vegetable oil requirement, last year. A weakening rupee has been another...

Student of Pune-based MIT School of Government (MITSOG), Harshvardhan Reddy, who hails from Karni village in Mahabubnagar district in Andhra Pradesh, has kept the Right to Information (RTI) flag flying high by filing over 300 RTI applications along with over 200 first appeals within a short span of two years. The first RTI application, Reddy said, was filed by him against the rural superintendent of police (SP) for delaying his passport...

World Water Day is held annually on March 22 to focus attention on the importance of freshwater and advocate sustainable management of freshwater resources. Each year, the day highlights a specific aspect of freshwater and this year's campaign was on “Water and Food Security.” A large quantity of water, more than most people think, is used for producing the Food we eat everyday. Water is a renewable and finite resource...

Even as the debate rages on whether poverty measurement in India is accurate, a recent report on nutritional intake of Indians has come up with a chilling conclusion: two thirds of the country's population is eating less than what is required.    Even more worrying is that this trend continues despite a healthy economic growth rate over several years, and despite several mega programmes of nutrition delivery to children. Experts believe that...

It is worrying that the Tendulkar method, chosen by the Planning Commission to calculate the poverty line in its latest figures, underestimates the levels of poverty while overestimating poverty reduction. The figures show that 29.8% or 360 million Indians were poor in 2009-10 as compared to 37.2% or 400 million in 2004-05. A poor person has been defined as one who spends R28 per day in urban areas and R22.5...