Despite its slackening industry, the common perception of West Bengal as a backward state has little substance when one looks at the facts. Most of us are conditioned to view economic development in terms of industrialisation. While industrialisation is essential for economic transformation, it is not as if economic growth is not possible without it. The sectoral structure of India's gross domestic product (GDP) and its slow transformation makes a good...

Winter in the Indian capital is a season of mists, minus the mellow fruitfulness. The air becomes charged with toxic emissions and particles that cannot disperse due to a meteorological phenomenon called "atmospheric inversion". According to B.P. Yadav, scientist with the meteorological department, atmospheric inversion is caused by a warming of the upper layers of the atmosphere, trapping colder air on the surface and, with it, vehicular and industrial emissions. "The immediate...

It's an irony of sorts. Mannina Maga (son of the soil) and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda's home district Hassan has emerged as the capital of farmers' suicides in Karnataka. Government Statistics show that nearly 2,597 killed themselves between 2003 and 2010, making it the worst period for farmer suicides in the state. Among 30 districts from where suicides were reported, nearly 268 suicides were reported in Hassan...

Joint committee can help avoid delay and duplication of work: Jaiswal Seeking to put an end to duplication in work and fast-track the decision making process, Statistics and Programme Implementation Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal has urged Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar to constitute a single Parliamentary Committee comprising members from both Houses to monitor the Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) fund scheme. In a letter to Ms. Kumar, Mr. Jaiswal stated...

India’s government is preparing to conduct the country’s first comprehensive survey on higher education, according to a senior education official. While there are reliable Statistics about primary and secondary schools, currently available numbers for higher education are severely inadequate, said Sunil Kumar, additional secretary for higher education at the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Addressing a conference organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry late last month, he said the survey would map...