-The Hindu Business Line The Prime Minister will launch the India Handloom brand today, the country’s first National Handloom Day India’s handloom fabrics are an integral part of the rich culture and heritage of India, and are appreciated world over for their colour, texture and design. During our freedom struggle, Mahatma Gandhi had stressed the need for hand spinning, handloom weaving and wearing India-made fabrics; thus khadi became an integral part of...

-The Indian Express It is necessary to rescue public policy from its elitist bias, bring agriculture to its centre There is seldom any Independence Day speech where the prime minister, from the ramparts of the Red Fort, does not thank the jawans and kisans for their heroic role in securing our borders and ensuring food security. This year is unlikely to be different. Recall Lal Bahadur Shastri’s famous slogan, “Jai Jawan,...

-The Indian Express Reducing preventable disease should be a developmental priority. Government needs to invest in a healthier future. Indians are famous for our savings mentality. The 2014 Towers Watson Global Benefits Attitude Survey found that Indians had the second-highest savings rate, after the Chinese. We save for a variety of reasons, to create a safety net and to yield returns in future. While there is a time to save, there...

-Economic and Political Weekly There has been a major change in the composition and mix of the cattle population in India. The proportion of male cattle has declined sharply as farmers do not fi nd it worthwhile to maintain bullocks to plough holdings that are becoming smaller and smaller. The composition of the milch cattle population too is changing. The proportion of the indigenous breed is falling and that of the...

-The Hindu Urban planning that involves the people and alternative service providers gives far better results than top-down efforts from the government, finds an IIT-M study In Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, the responsibility of managing and maintaining a set of more than 160 community toilets was handed over by the Tiruchirapalli City Corporation to a federation of women self-help groups. A post-programme field survey of 803 households revealed that the community participation had...