-The Hindu Business Line Noted Gandhian economist Dr Sudarshan Iyengar surveys the distressed agricultural landscape, pinpoints its weaknesses, and prescribes solutions with their roots in Gandhian agronomics. Edited excerpts from an interview to BusinessLine: * Given the agrarian crisis in India today, how relevant are Gandhi's economic principles based on the village economy, and equitable distribution of resources? They are relevant in the context of Gandhi's view of gram swaraj (village self-rule), which...

-Livemint.com Public programs like MGNREGA are less successful in raising wages in regions characterized by historical inequality, finds new study When it was launched in 2006, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was envisaged to boost rural economies by providing the rural poor with 100 days of guaranteed public employment and raising rural wages. But its intended benefits may have eluded those who needed them the most, a new...

-Newsclick.in The Infant Mortality Ratio (IMR) data, which has either risen or remained stagnant in urban areas raises questions about the condition of the urban health care system. While on one hand, the Narendra Modi led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has been making tall claims about its  Ayushman Bharat scheme, crucial indicators such as Infant Mortality Ratio (IMR) are showing a deep disparity. The decline in the government’s expenditure on public...

-The Telegraph 'The people of Kashmir need healing from the deep wounds of this conflict, not subjugation to further violence and alienation' If nature abhors a vacuum, so does journalism. The Lancet, an international medical journal, has referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “prosperity” justification for the changes in Jammu and Kashmir and said the people there first need healing, not subjugation and alienation. The journal has also raised concerns about the mental...

-The Indian Express The fresh set of orders triggered panic as people boarded buses, hired SUVs and multi-purpose vehicles and pick-up trucks to reach towns like Jorhat, Charaideo, Sivasagar and Golaghat. Guwahati: From two sisters on board a bus to a senior citizen who fell ill during a hearing, four persons, including a 14-year-old girl, have died since Monday in Assam. All were among the thousands summoned for fresh National Register...