-The Hindu Business Line Land should not be viewed as the only factor of productivity. And, managing food prices calls for better market intelligence The Centre’s emphasis on manufacturing, manifested in initiatives such as ‘Make in India’ and ‘Skill India’ have a downside: relative indifference to agriculture. Some of this is already visible in terms of rural distress and food price inflation. This can prove costly to the economy, reminiscent of the...

-The Hindu Business Line New Delhi: The issue of one poverty number continues to absorb the NITI Aayog, and indications are that its task force on elimination of poverty will suggest having separate indicators for different social schemes such as health and housing. “A debate has been on within the task force on whether there should be one poverty number or separate indicators for different schemes… Discussions are also taking place on...

-The Hindu Among other things, the government must work towards giving life to the National Health Policy Even as millions of Indians wish each other health, happiness and hope in the new year, they also await news on the new National Health Policy which will become the GPS in our journey towards better health. The draft policy, which was framed by the Union Health Ministry, was placed for public comment just over...

-Business Standard Investments in the health sector are far lower than those in the transport and energy sectors Of the 4,000-odd multi-crore infrastructure projects in the country, only nine (0.21%) - with a total investment of Rs 938 crore - are in the health sector, according to data published by the finance ministry. The public-private partnership (PPP) projects range from diagnostic centres to super-specialty hospitals. Investments in the health sector are far lower...

-Hindustan Times Wheat, the country’s winter staple, has hit hurdles, with farmers unable to sow the normal area and instances of a dreaded fungus attack being reported from some parts of Punjab and Haryana, raising concerns of a lower output. Summer foodgrain output fell 1.7% at 124.05 million tonne, according to the government’s first of the four quarterly estimates due to a crippling back-to-back drought. This has hurt farm incomes, which support...