-The Hindu Business Line How the Indian State metamorphosed from protector of the poor to facilitator of the private health industry If there is correlation between two incidents of the Central Government announcing cuts in the health budget and dengue patients being refused treatment in Delhi’s private hospitals, it is rarely discussed in the ongoing media debate on the subject. A new collection of researched essays edited by public health scholar Imrana...

-The Hindu The system brought down input costs — two to four kg of seeds per acre against 30 kg needed for fertiliser-based, water-intensive farming A model evolved for applying traditional wisdom in farming has also helped in conserving indigenous paddy varieties that are under threat of extinction. The Biodiversity Rainfed Farming System, promoted by Rural Organisation for Social Education, a not-for-profit voluntary organisation, in four blocks of Pudukottai district of Tamil Nadu,...

-The Hindu More women will be recruited to top jobs in various Karnataka government departments, with the hike in reservation for women at 33 per cent from the present 30 per cent. Currently, the percentage of women employees in ‘A’ and ‘B’ categories is well-short of the level prescribed by the new reservation policy. Women in ‘A’ category jobs such as Senior Assistant Directors and Deputy Directors were at 22.47 per cent...

-DNA Wondering about the plight of the rural population facing successive droughts which has to buy pulses, South Asia Network for Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) laments how no benefit of the price hike is reaching actual pulse farmers. While most link the current tur (pigeon pea) dal crisis with raging market prices, storage issues, hoarding and economics, a new study highlighting the making of the crisis - by South Asia Network...

The low rate of inflation of 3.88 percent in Consumer Food Price Index during September, 2015 actually hides the high prices at which various pulses (dal) are available in kirana / retail shops across India. In terms of Consumer Price Index (combined), monthly rate of inflation in pulses and products during September 2015 (over September last year) stood at 29.76 percent as compared to the overall monthly retail inflation of...