-The Economic Times Dinkar Patil, a farmer from Buldhana district in Vidarbha, Maharashtra, normally cultivates cotton on his 13-acre farm land. This year, however, he has skipped the cotton crop and opted for soyabean and tur dal. "The rainfall started late. I did not cultivate cotton because of the delayed rains and the huge increase in cost of cultivation of the crop," said Patil. He is expecting a fall of about...

-The Business Standard The govt takes the final decision to partially accept US demands on the phase-out of global warming refrigerant gases in India India took a leap forward to meet US demands on climate change with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's and US President Barack Obama's joint statement. The government took the final decision to partially accept US demands on the phase-out of global warming refrigerant gases in India, a step India had...

-The Hindu Sangareddy (Telengana): As many as 44 farmers have committed suicides in the last few months in Medak district after taking loans from private financiers Rachaboyina Balagoud was 55 years and belonged to Mylaram village in Wargal mandal. He had about one-and-a-half acres of land. He took loans to the tune of Rs. 12 lakh from various sources, including banks, and a private financer. He had sunk as many as 12...

-The Hindu We could hold people accountable to a reasonable standard of expectation and that's the first step, says economist Esther Duflo In 2003, French-American economist Esther Duflo co-founded the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (JPAL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with Abhijit Banerjee and Sendhil Mullainathan. In just over ten years, JPAL has carried out 568 field experiments - or Randomised Control Trials (RCTs) - in 56 countries,...

-The Hindu The world cannot afford to talk about hunger without addressing climate change, food production without sustainability or growth without good nutrition With the world's population predicted to reach 9 billion by 2050, we collectively face a dual challenge: ensuring that everyone will have access to affordable, nutritious food without decimating the earth's natural resources in the process. This is easier said than done. Our current food system is dysfunctional both...