-The ASIan Age The much-quoted sentence, "there are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies and statistics", was attributed to the 19th century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli by American author Mark Twain. Although researchers could never find such a statement in any written work of Disraeli, the sentence gained universal popularity to signify how economists and other number-crunchers use the "persuASIve power" of figures to make a political point or...

-Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies World-renowned journalist P. Sainath has returned to Princeton to teach two courses, beginning this week, in the Program for South ASIan Studies. The former rural affairs editor of The Hindu and award-winning "reporter" - he prefers the term to journalist - has devoted his career to telling the stories of India, uncovering the truth of social problems, rural affairs, poverty and the aftermath of...

-BBC Unseasonal rains and hailstorms have destroyed crops in several parts of northern and western India. Small farmers are suffering the most in this crisis. Some of the affected farmers in northern Uttar Pradesh state tell their stories to BBC Monitoring's Vikas Pandey. Ram Singh of Pratapgarh looks nervous and unsure about the future as he shows me the destroyed wheat crop in his farm. He is one among many farmers in the...

-Frontline Outcomes of the patterns of growth induced by neoliberal economic reforms have increased the disproportionality between agricultural and non-agricultural growth, and with costs rising and prices not keeping pace, agriculture is becoming increASIngly unviable. FARMERS across northern and central India-in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and elsewhere-are distressed. Unseasonal rains have damaged their standing crop and help from the government has been meagre and slow in coming. This, however, is...

-LATimes.com In Indian state, thousands of villages sit nearly empty as people leave to become migrant workers India farm crisis, compounded by drought, forces farmers to eke out living as migrant laborers It shouldn't be tough to run into a human being most anywhere in a country of 1.2 billion people. Yet in Bodkha village in western India, there is hardly anyone visible on a recent steamy afternoon. The streets here are deserted not...