-The Hindu The Budget overlooks the fact that human capabilities are as important as physical capital for economic growth and the quality of life. It goes back to the days when growth and development sounded synonymous, physical capital was thought to be the key, and human capital took a back seat Once upon a time, around the end of the Second World War, there was a naive view in development economics that...

-The Hindu The implementation of the National Food Security Act is mired in apathy and confusion. A grave injustice is being done to millions of people who live on the margin of subsistence. It is not too late to remove the roadblocks, but this requires a sense of urgency An odd silence has surrounded the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in the last few months - as if food insecurity were a...

-IPS News CHINTOOR, India- Laxman, a 10-year-old Koya tribal boy, looks admiringly at a fenced-in vegetable patch behind his home in southern India's Andhra Pradesh state. Velvety-green and laden with vegetables, the half-acre patch is where Laxman's family gets their daily quota of nutritious food. But one day soon it will disappear under several feet of water, thanks to the Polavaram multipurpose project - a 45-metre-high, 2.32-km-long mega dam currently under construction...

-The Hindustan Times Delhi has the dubious distinction of being the world's most polluted city. In fact, the entire country, including the rural areas, is heavily polluted as anyone who has taken a flight in India knows. The fog that engulfs north India in winter is largely a consequence of the smoke particles in the air on which water condenses easily. Why have matters been allowed to reach this state? One...

-The Hindu Business Line   Commerce Ministry asks poultry breeders to assess risk on fresh health concerns New Delhi: India is preparing a second line of defence to protect its domestic poultry industry against competition from cheap chicken leg imports from the US. With the World Trade Organisation recently ruling against India's ban on chicken import from the US on the grounds that it would lead to spread of bird flu, the Commerce Ministry...