-Press Information Bureau I am very happy to release the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA Sameeksha, brought out by the Ministry of Rural Development. This is an innovative way of looking at our development programmes. I compliment Shri Jairam Ramesh for taking the initiative to reach out to scholars in different parts of our country to apply their minds to analysis of what is being achieved, what is possible, what is not yet...

-The Economic Times The crisis of the euro, a current account deficit of over 4%, double-digit inflation, corruption in governance and a failing political system. It would not be unfair to say that these factors have combined in varying degrees at different times to lead to the conclusion that the globally-acclaimed India growth story seems to be heading for an unhappy ending. Many have labelled this - unfairly, I think - as...

MANMOHAN SINGH AND ECONOMICS Sanjaya Baru’s article "The economist as saviour", an account of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s economics could have juxtaposed specific issues of economic policy with Dr. Singh’s stance on them. Sanjaya Baru’s article “The economist as saviour” (editorial page, The Hindu, July 4, 2012), an account of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s economics could have juxtaposed specific issues of economic policy with Dr. Singh’s stance on them. What we...

-The United Nations The world needs to take a hard look at speculation on the financial markets and its potential impact on food price volatility, the head of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today. “Excessive food price volatility, especially at the speed at which price swings have been occurring since 2007, has negative impacts on poor consumers and poor producers alike all over the world,” FAO’s Director-General, José...

-The Business Standard   MGNREGA review should be based on more research Both acclaim and accusations have been hurled at the UPA’s landmark scheme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee programme, or MGNREGA. Usually, the reasons for the criticism or praise are less-than-completely supported. For example, it has been both praised and condemned for providing local wage employment to the jobless, thus curbing outmigration; similarly, it is claimed that the scheme has...