-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: The Manmohan Singh government's target of skilling 500 million people by 2022 is grossly inflated and is based on a speech by late management guru CK Prahalad instead of any demographic analysis. The country would actually need only about half that number of trained manpower by then, the government's own think-tank, the Institute of Applied Manpower Research (IAMR), has said in a research paper. The IAMR, housed under...

-The Hindu Steep rise in inputs and uncertainty over water availability are among factors Chennai: More and more small and marginal farmers are selling their meagre landholdings to become agricultural workers. This is how agriculturists, policy-makers and economists explain the finding in the Census for Tamil Nadu: Between 2001 and 2011, the strength of cultivators declined and the number of agricultural workers went up. In the 10-year period, there was a fall of...

-The Business Standard Officials in the know said that the commission is of the opinion that auto and taxi fares in the capital should be increased rationally Auto and taxi fares in Delhi could soon be linked to fuel price changes, inflation index and the cost of maintenance, if the Delhi government accepts a proposal floated by the Planning Commission. Officials in the know said that the Commission is of the opinion that...

-The Hindu "Farming is fascinating. The only thing is that it requires continuous hard-work and devotion without any distraction" says Mr. Barun Singh, a government bank manager-turned-farmer. Mr. Barun Singh maintains a vermi-composting unit in a portion of his 10 acre land. A dairy unit is attached to the composting unit so that the cattle dung can be easily utilized for the process without much labour involvement. Waste materials like dried leaves, rotten...

-Live Mint The varying demographic trends in modern India could create disagreements in the political system There were 180 million more Indians in 2011 than a decade ago. Around half this increase in population came from the villages and half from the cities. The urban population actually grew slightly more than the rural population, perhaps for the first time in Indian history. The big picture is generally known. It is in the...