-Livemint.com Amid all the gloom, the lower inflation rate and commodity prices could bring some respite With the southwest monsoon retracing, concerns about the deficiency of rainfall and its impact on the economy are increasing. The 15% rainfall deficit makes it the second consecutive year of less-than-normal monsoon dotted with some unseasonal showers. Together, this would have multiple ramifications on economic growth. Both macroeconomic and sectoral analysts have turned cautious and some...

-Economic and Political Weekly After coming to power in 2014, the National Democratic Alliance government took several measures to dilute the pro-poor provisions of the Land Acquisition Act of 2013. Though it has backed down, several questions remain over the way the Modi government has dealt with the issue of land acquisition. Santosh Verma (santosh.econ@gmail.com) is at the Council for Social Development, New Delhi. Land acquisition—by private corporations or the state—has raised vital...

-The Indian Express Destruction of her murals shows the rot in the museum. The mindless destruction of Ganga Devi’s extraordinary last works at the Crafts Museum is terribly sad. It highlights the caste system between art and craft, the indifference to the creative integrity of a craftsperson’s vision. The quoted reaction of a Crafts Museum official, “Don’t worry, I’ll get another kohbar ghar painted” shows that, even for someone who claims...

-Tehelka Tired of importing toxic vegetables from Tamil Nadu, Kerala seems to have started a movement in organic vegetable farming It seems vegetables have taken over from water in the ongoing rift between the south Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Having waged a relentless war over the sharing of water from the colonial Mullaperiyar dam for over three decades, the two states have now locked horns over the quality...

-The Hindu Has the social Media converted people into a lynch mob that seeks out justice and passes judgement instantly, without bothering to hear both sides of the story? The Internet has changed the way we communicate in more ways than we can imagine. Apart from being a medium to share pictures and updates with family and friends, social Media has also become an arena where political debates are a commonplace and...