The much awaited results of the National Sample Survey have once again spilled the beans about India’s effort in fighting poverty. The provisional results of the 68th Round of National Sample Survey (NSS) of household consumption expenditure (which is often taken as a proxy for income) finds that the average monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE) at current prices in urban areas (Rs. 2401.68) is 1.87 times more than the average...

-The Hindu Death toll in Uttarakhand alone is 28 After weeks of deficient monsoon in the northwestern region, the three Himalayan States of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, as well as Uttar Pradesh, on Saturday faced cloudbursts, landslips and floods, causing at least 31 deaths. Authorities issued a flood alert as the level in the Chenab, Tawi, Ujh and Basantar rivers approached the danger mark in Jammu. In Himachal Pradesh, the police...

-The Hindustan Times In 2009, when India had its worst drought in three decades in terms of rainfall, the country managed to produce a million more tonnes of foodgrains than it did in 2007, a normal year. Droughts, such as the one that has now settled in nearly half of the country, are no longer the disaster they used to be, thanks to one of the world's most efficient drought management systems.   Largely indigenous...

-The Economic Times KOLKATA/AHMEDABAD: Power sector officials from Ahmedabad to Kolkata are fretting over the indiscipline of northern states and are seeking legislative changes to imprison those responsible for drawing excessive electricity and putting at risk power supply to law-abiding states.  Most officials in eastern and western India say that the unprecedented breakdowns of power supply this week were avoidable. Officials are angry with the Northern Regional Power Committee (NRPC), the body...

-The Times of India Monday's blackout in nine northern states following a grid collapse was a disaster waiting to happen. With most states in the region facing perennial shortages of power, they are prone to drawing more than their share from the grid, leaving it precariously poised. Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan are notorious among load despatchers for their wanton disregard of planned drawal. All are agricultural states and also house...