-The Business Standard Says it ensured more inclusive growth here, with better paying jobs, compared to NDA govt's record The perception that more jobs were created during the 1998-2004 National Democratic Alliance government than that of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) isn't based on facts, said Jairam Ramesh, the minister for rural development. From projections based on a National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) study, 60 million jobs were created between 1999-2000 and...

-Down to Earth Demand income security and sustainability, and redressal of grievances relating to land matters which they say are the biggest source of corruption and mis-governance The apathy of successive governments of Andhra Pradesh towards the deepening agrarian crisis has resulted in farmers groups organising themselves to put pressure on political parties during election time. The Rythu Swarajya Vedika, an umbrella organisation of various farmers' groups and non-profits working in the...

-The Business Standard Industry can lead in saving precious drops The bad news on water is known to experts, but not perhaps to most Indians. By some estimates, India will become water scarce in just about five years, and be a massive 50 per cent short on water in another 10. The country, therefore, needs to find better ways to use water. Is India Inc, in particular, thinking about this problem? The...

-The Business Standard The dominant theme in the pre-election discourse is that misrule by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in its second term has led to sharply lower growth of gross domestic product (GDP), which Narendra Modi will reverse, the way he has made Gujarat shine. But the evidence on hand does not support this correlation between the quality of national political leadership and growth performance. If anything, there is...

-AFP GENEVA: Air pollution by sources ranging from cooking fires to auto fumes contributed to an estimated seven million deaths worldwide in 2012, the UN health agency said on Tuesday. "Air pollution, and we're talking about both indoors and outdoors, is now the biggest environmental health problem, and it's affecting everyone, both developed and developing countries," said Maria Neira, the World Health Organization's public and environmental health chief. Globally, pollution was linked to...