-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The government on Friday swung into action on the rising prices of major pulses, particularly arhar, and took a string of decisions to enhance supplies. Within hours after the Times of India report, the government decided to import another 5,000 tonnes of arhar to stem the prices which have been spiraling in the past few months. "At a high-level meeting held here today (Friday), the...

-Down to Earth With only 58 per cent rainfall this season, Maharashtra is likely to face one of the worst agrarian crises ever As the fear of drought looms large over India, Beed district in Maharashtra’s Marathwada region is gearing up to face one of its worst agrarian crises this year. Matters have come to such a pass that the residents of Gangamasla village in the district have threatened self-immolation to protest against...

-The Hindu Ramaswamy R. Iyer, a water policy expert who wrote extensively for The Hindu, saw rivers as inextricable parts of the lives of communities. Ramaswamy R. Iyer passed away on September 9 in Delhi after a severe bout of viral fever. The water policy expert, who last held the position of an honorary research professor at the Centre for Policy Research, earlier served as Secretary of Water Resources in the Central...

-Livemint.com The World Food Price Index in August fell to its lowest level since May 2009 Indian farmers are not going to like this. The World Food Price Index, compiled by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, in August fell 5.2% to 155.7 points from the previous month. That’s the lowest level since May 2009. The fall comes in the backdrop of an all-round decline in commodity prices. The cereal price index...

-Livemint.com Water availability has not deteriorated only because of the poor monsoon Amartya Sen showed in his seminal work on famines that mass starvation is not necessarily the result of inadequate food supply. He opened up new areas of inquiry that focussed on what have come to be known as entitlement failures. Sen has famously argued that human mistakes forced people into starvation in Bengal in 1943 even though food production in...