-The Financial Express The USDA projection of 29% of agri GDP is faulty as it counts rural development expenditure also, it is only 13% In a report titled "India's Agricultural Exports Climbs To Record High" (click here to access), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) speaks of a steep ascent in Indian agro exports-from $5 billion in 2003 to $39 billion in 2013. This may be flattering, but the facts and figures...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Jumping a red light may soon cost you Rs 5,000; cellphone use Rs 4,000 -Dipak K Dash
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: If you jump a traffic light, drive on the wrong side of the road, refuse to snap on the seat belt or obstruct emergency vehicles, you may soon have to cough up a fine of Rs 5,000. And if you repeat these offences, the penalty could climb to Rs 10,000 and even Rs 15,000, your licence could be suspended and you may be packed off...
More »Elementary Education of the Urban Poor: Policy Context, Text and Practice in Delhi -Monika Banerjee
-Economic and Political Weekly Through a two-way process comprising text analysis of the policy framework of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programme and analysis of empirical data collected through interaction with policy implementers, teachers, students, experts, etc, this article puts forth the argument that urban education system has failed partly because of the inability of the implementers to plan, manage and facilitate the programme. Monika Banerjee (banerjie77@gmail.com) is with the Zakir Husain Centre...
More »Insurance can be bad for health -Monica Das Gupta and VR Muraleedharan
-The Indian Express International experience points to the dangers in moving towards a system of health insurance coverage. Improving government services is the answer. Last month, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan offered a glimpse into the new government's universal health assurance scheme, of which insurance will be an important component. Health insurance is also part of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, the NDA government's financial inclusion programme. But international experience does...
More »The children the PM couldn’t speak to -Kiran Bhatty
-The Indian Express More than four years after the RTE was passed, the state has no handle on the numbers of out-of-school children. The recently released report of the Global Initiative on Out-of-School Children, based on a situational analysis of India, opens a Pandora's box on data and methodological issues that plague the estimation of out-of-school children in India. As the report reveals, there is a multiplicity of definitions, sources of data...
More »