-Livemint.com * The population explosion has major impacts on the country ranging from health, social, environmental and economic * Gender preferences are also contributing to the population explosion in India New Delhi: Pointing out population growth as a major concern in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech called for a deeper thought towards the issue. Apparently, the mention was an indication that the government is devising a policy or...

-Down to Earth The court’s suggestions, like making MSP a legal right and increasing it to thrice the cost of production, are practical but need effort in implementation, say experts The Punjab and Haryana high court recently recommended that minimum support price (MSP) be made farmers’ legal right and it be set at three times the cost of production. But will these or a slew of other measures the court suggested address...

-Working Paper No. 75, July 2019, Nabakrushna Choudhury Centre for Development Studies, Bhubaneswar This study looks into four broad questions on smallholder agriculture, that is, the marginal and small farm sizes that constitute more than 85 per cent of the operational holdings in India. Are returns to smallholder agriculture sustainable? Is the smallholder agriculture efficient? Does the smallholder have access to formal sources of credit? Is credit provided by formal sources...

  Adolescence is a period when physical and neuro-maturational changes take place in the body of a young girl. Although it is illegal marrying a girl under the age of 18 years as per the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006, adolescent girls in our country are compelled to marry and attain pregnancy that adversely affects well-being and outcomes of both mothers and their children. Latest available data shows that societal norms...

-TheWire.in Most ASHA workers complain that there isn't enough ORS to give affected children in villages. Muzaffarpur (Bihar): Promila Devi, a resident of Ganesh Sirsiya village in Bihar’s Motihari, had organised a puja at her home last Tuesday. At around 11 pm, she gave her four-year-old daughter Priyanshu a meal of roti and bhujiya before putting her to sleep. The day had been hectic, so Promila woke up late the next morning. But...