-The Hindu Any aggressive attempt to widen the fiscal deficit will land India’s economy in problems The sharp deceleration in the growth of the economy as revealed by the first quarter estimate of GDP released a month ago has been widely commented upon. The policy prescriptions needed to reverse the trend depend on our understanding of the factors responsible for the slowdown. Among other things, one factor that stands out is the...

-Down to Earth New laws to regulate sand mining have not had much impact Illegal sand mining is a perennial problem in India. But it assumes gargantuan proportions right before the onset of monsoon because swollen rivers make extraction extremely difficult during the rainy season. To make most of the lean period, mine owners and hoarders try to dig out as much sand as possible, through legal and illegal means, in...

-National Herald With a GHI of 31.4, India is at the high end of the “serious” category and this highlights the need for an urgent focus on interventions towards reducing malnutrition in the country The release of the Global Hunger Index (GHI) has once again brought the poor state of nutrition in India onto the spotlight. Although there are improvements in India’s hunger and nutrition indicators, on the whole its rank has...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court's ruling that sex between a man and his wife under 18 years of age would be rape has triggered a fresh debate on how the government and courts will deal with social realities like consensual sex between adolescents. Gender rights activists welcomed the judgment saying it may reduce instances of child marriages, but said the decision has come as a blow to individual's...

-Livemint.com Wholesale prices of just-harvested kharif pulses have dropped below the government’s minimum support prices (MSP) despite a lower crop output New Delhi: Wholesale prices of just harvested kharif pulses have dropped below the government’s minimum support prices (MSP) despite a lower crop output, forcing farmers to sell their produce at a loss in states such as Rajasthan. For instance, price data from wholesale markets available on the Agmarket website showed that on...