-The Indian Express The effects of de-monetisation will be the most acute when it spreads from consumption in households to production in factories and by farmers across the country. So far, the effects of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘de-monetisation’ of existing Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination currency notes have been largely felt by households, shopkeepers and other microenterprises. These economic agents have, to a limited extent, adjusted to the new situation...

-Frontline.in In the latest Global Hunger Index, India is bracketed in the category of countries where hunger levels are “serious”. But the policy responses on hunger and malnutrition in the country have been inadequate and faulty. In the second week of October, a few media reports in India highlighted significant data pertaining to global hunger. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) had released its Global Hunger Index (GHI), rating 118...

-The Indian Express The Centre is pushing and many states are implementing Direct Benefit Transfers – and encountering little political opposition The entire focus on ushering in a direct benefit transfer (DBT) regime for delivering subsidies to the targeted populations has so far centered around cooking gas, and to some extent, on isolated pilot experiments with food subsidy. Agriculture subsidies, especially on inputs other than fertilisers, have largely escaped attention in...

Two back-to-back reports that shed light on the status of MGNREGA implementation in the country, have been released recently from the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD). A review of MGNREGA implementation in 8 different states of India by a team of experts during the month of May this year reveals that in many of the drought affected districts, the Gram Panchayats have no work to offer under the programme. (Please click...

-BBC Up to one third of the world's food is wasted before it can be eaten. That's 1.3 billion tonnes, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. At the same time up to 793 million people don't get enough nourishment to help them live a healthy life. So, what can be done to fix these two major challenges the world is facing? In India, dabbawalas are using their world-renowned...