An analysis of the remote sensing data collected by Nasa satellites on the changes in vegetation in India during the last 25 years has confirmed the bad news: The growth rate of foodgrain production in India has been stagnant in the last decade, which crop statisticians have been aware of for some time now. A nine-member team of scientists from Nasa, the Boston University and the Indian Institute of Tropical...

The might of the Indian state is unable to turn the tide in Chhattisgarh. A violent Maoist insurgency continues to rage despite massive deployment of security forces. Ever wondered why? Part of the answer has come now with the findings of a joint committee that recently visited the state to take stock of the implementation of the Forest Rights Act. The Act, legislated in 2006 to provide tribals legal access...

The June 1 announcement by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while releasing the Report Card for the first year of the second term of the United Progressive Alliance Government, that the Food Security Bill was under preparation and that the Bill would be placed in the public domain for scrutiny and wider consultation has raised hopes about early enactment of the law to ensure the people's right to food as part...

Noting that it was committed to extending social security cover to all sections, the Government on Tuesday said it had decided to set up a National Social Security Fund for workers in the unorganised sector. “The National Social Security Fund for workers in the unorganised sector would cover weavers, toddy tappers, rickshaw pullers and bidi workers with an initial allocation of Rs. 1000 crore,” the UPA government's Report to the People...

Some of the districts hit by India’s biggest internal security threat seem to have done as well or better than the rest of the country in one key development-related aspect, according to the government. Unlike other welfare schemes that fail to take off in any significant way in these areas, the performance of the flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in 31 districts, around one-third of the total...