-DNA The government's lack of focus on agriculture shows its lopsided priorities. In the coming months, about 1.5 crore farmers who quit agriculture in the past seven years, are likely to trudge back into the villages. In normal circumstances such a massive reverse migration - from the cities back to the villages - would have been a sign of inclusive growth. But economists are taking this U-turn as a sign of...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Delhi government spent Rs 6.33 lakh on Arvind Kejriwal's oath-taking ceremony at Ramlila Maidan while his predecessor Sheila Dikshit's oath ceremony cost Rs 13.04 lakh. In response to a query by Mumbai-based RTI applicant Anil Galgali, the Delhi government's general administration department said it had spent Rs 6.33 lakh on the Ramlila Maidan ceremony. This, however, does not include expenses by other departments including power,...

-Down to Earth Four-day world congress on agroforestry in Delhi pushes for accelerating growing trees on farms for sustainable agriculture and mitigating climate change impacts In what is seen as a ground-breaking move, India has become the first nation in the world to adopt an agroforestry policy. The National Agroforestry Policy, which deals with the practice of integrating trees, crops and livestock on the same plot of land, was launched February 10,...

-PTI Under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, the government aims to connect 20,000 MW of solar power to the National Grid by 2022. India will add nearly 30,000 MW of power generation capacity from renewable energy sources - doubling it from the current size - in the next four years, a senior official said on Wednesday. "We plan to add around 20,000 MW of wind and around 10,000 MW of solar capacity...

The more things change, the more they remain the same. Probably, this can be said about the ‘Sample Registration System Statistical Report 2012', which carries the latest figures on the social sector by far. The report has provided some interesting trends in child mortality indicators for India and its bigger states during 2012 (see the links below). It says that states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, which have consistently...