-Financial Chronicle   Forecasts on possible monsoon behaviour are not very encouraging. There is a possibility of El Nino factors causing further problems. More recently, our farmers in parts of north and central India experienced the fury of hailstorms and heavy rains. Climate change further complicates the possibility of providing accurate advance estimates of monsoon behaviour. This is not only true in our country, but also around the world. California, for example,...

-AFP   A new World Bank report says violence endured by women is one of the key factors in limiting their achievement Washington: More than 700 million women worldwide are subject to physical or sexual violence from their husbands or partners, many with little right to protection, the World Bank said on Wednesday. The problem is worst in South Asia and Africa, where more than two women in five have experienced violence at the...

-The Indian Express   The Gujarat model, if there is one, is not shining. Surjit Bhalla, in recent articles (‘Gujarat's inclusive growth', IE, April 12, ‘Gujarat's other calling card', IE, April 19 and ‘Just name-calling', IE, April 26), has been making a case for Narendra Modi's prime ministerial candidacy by praising the Gujarat development model. It is surprising because, just a year ago, he critiqued Gujarat's growth model for being "neither equitable nor...

-DNA   Farming is considered a patriotic enterprise, and nearly half of India's labour force is engaged in agriculture and allied activities. Almost everyone believes that in the election season, political parties should pledge to aid this patriotic endeavor to feed the nation. But, farming is a risky profession, and agricultural products form only 14% of India's total produce. After the economic reforms, the growth in agricultural GDP has averaged only 3.4%. Even...

-The New York Times   As politicians scramble for India's 815 million votes in the most expensive and closely contested general election in the nation's history, an unexpected protest is rumbling from what was once one of the country's most placid voter blocs: its farmers. The protest is inflamed by rising attention to the shocking suicide rate on India's hardscrabble farms. Since 1995, more than 290,000 farmers have killed themselves. Though that figure,...