-Down to Earth NTFPS-EP is a network working with adivasis on ecosystem conservation, advocacy and livelihoods When we shift the focus from the timber a forest is usually valued for to the non-timber products it offers, a very different world opens up. Wild fruit, honey, gums and resin, fish and crab, fibre and flowers, birds' eggs and bush meat, and medicinal barks are only some of the products that a forest may...

-Live Mint To alleviate poverty and extend true food security to its people India must bring efficiency to public expenditures In the Indian economy, where almost half of the average household's expenditures goes toward food and half the labour force is engaged in agriculture, one cannot simply wish away the centrality of agriculture just because its contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) hovers around a comparatively low 14%. India's agriculture is responsible...

-The Business Standard   The Indian economy certainly has problems. But compared to the rest of the world, we will take ours any day Over the past couple of years, and particularly the past few months, we have become convinced that economists, the intelligentsia, fund managers, foreign brokers, don't read global macroeconomic news. All of the above have castigated the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for having ruined the economy, causing a massive growth...

-The Hindustan Times If you've somehow managed to wrench yourself away from witnessing the ever plunging new lows during the ongoing election campaigns, including name calling, mud (and ink) slinging and repeated exchanges of the same accusations between political rivals, you will surely have noticed the exuberance in the markets - the Sensex has touched a record high and the long-languishing rupee has strengthened to within striking distance of sub-Rs 60...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The country's faltering economy is likely to get a significant stimulus from election spending by political parties, candidates and the government which estimates suggest could be as much as Rs 30,000 crore. The figure is comparable to the $4 billion (around Rs 20,000 crore at the prevailing Exchange Rate) additional spending that the government announced in 2008 to shield the economy from the impact of the...