-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Everybody knows that there is a chasm between the rich and the poor. But can it be measured? And, more importantly, is this disparity between the rich and poor growing or coming down? New data based on consumption expenditure surveys shows that income disparity is growing and at a rapid clip. Spending and consumption by the richest 5% zoomed up by over 60% between 2000 and...

-The Hindu Groundwater meets three quarters of the State's farming needs The Punjab State Farmers Commission recently published a draft new agriculture policy for the State that envisages substantial crop diversification from paddy and wheat staples that the State has been growing since the sixties. The draft policy, currently being debated in agriculture circles, is the first serious road map to steer Punjab's agriculture towards a new dynamic, necessitated by a sharp...

-Frontline The National Advisory Council recommendations seem to be making a strong case for a major role for the private sector in the delivery of health care. THE recommendations for universal health coverage drawn up by the National Advisory Council (NAC), headed by United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, push for public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the health delivery system but not for any inbuilt mechanisms for accountability. The NAC also...

-The Hindu Making the Gross Domestic Product the sole measure of national development for many years has left Indians with a natural environment that is among the most polluted in the world. Regardless of that dismal outcome, and in spite of settled law that polluters should pay, the Centre and State governments continue to balk at stronger enforcement of environmental laws. New evidence from a study by the Tata Institute of...

-The Indian Express Greater economic growth, not more subsidy, has resulted in poverty falling like never before Given how poverty levels have fallen sharply, from 37.2 per cent of the population in 2004-05 to 21.9 per cent in 2011-12, the question is whether this is due to rising economic growth or a more sprawling subsidy regime. Since the government plans to bring in the Food Security Bill, it is easy to guess...