Many scandals have surfaced recently, which highlight the immaturity of India’s economic development model. India lurched somewhat reluctantly into the economic reform process nearly two decades ago. If China has been on the path for the last 33 years, the fact is that we have been at it for 20 years, too. This is a good a time to assess whether we are making sufficient progress along the many dimensions...

The recent spike in vegetable prices, due partly to erratic supplies, could well have been averted if the novel concept of “relay cropping” in vegetable farming had become popular. This system allows growing three to seven crops of different vegetables on the same patch of land over a period to ensure a steady and regular flow of vegetables to markets. This innovative approach, significantly, has been conceived and successfully put into practice...

Women continue to reap less benefits from employment in agriculture than men in rural areas, and the recent global financial and food crises have slowed down progress towards gender equality in farming-related labour, three United Nations agencies said in a joint report unveiled today. According to the report, compiled by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), women...

When we hear the word innovation, we often think of new technologies or silver bullet solutions — like hydrogen fuel cells or a cure for cancer. To be sure, breakthroughs are vital: antibiotics and vaccines, for example, transformed global health. But as we’ve argued in Fixes, some of the greatest advances come from taking old ideas or technologies and making them accessible to millions of people who are underserved. One area...

About 6 per cent of girls in the 11-14 age group in rural India are still out of school, according to findings of the Annual Status of Education Report-2010 facilitated by the non-government organisation Pratham. This percentage is lesser than the 2009 figure of 6.8 per cent. The report, which is the largest annual survey of children in rural India, was released by Vice-President Hamid Ansari here. Mr. Ansari said that...