Deng Xiaoping, the architect of modern China, had a sharp, snappy way of putting across what he wanted to say. Some of his eminently quotable quotes include: “It doesn’t matter if the cat is black or white so long as it catches mice” and “Poverty is not socialism. To be rich is glorious”. But there’s another, less well-known and even more controversial quote also attributed to him: “Let some people...
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'Rapid growth leaving millions behind in Asia'
-The Business Standard About 240 million more people in Asia, or 6.5 per cent of the population, could have been lifted out of poverty, had inequality not widened over the past 20 years, roughly the era coinciding with economic reforms in India, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said in a report released on Wednesday. “Asia’s rapid growth is leaving millions behind, causing a widening gap between the rich and the poor that...
More »Mission Impossible by V Venkatesan
Experts agree that the economic and environmental costs of interlinking India's rivers far outweigh its projected benefits. Some people believe it is the one-stop solution to prevent floods and droughts, reduce water scarcity, raise irrigation potential and increase foodgrain production in the country. But others say it is just another grandiose scheme involving huge costs and leading to long-term ecological consequences. The contentious idea of interlinking India's rivers has come...
More »A Two-tier System by Sukanta Chaudhuri
When the fledgling Indian government drafted its higher education policy after Independence, it formed two separate tiers for teaching and research: colleges and universities in one, exclusive research establishments in the other. The intention was of the noblest, to deploy our best talent exclusively to create an indigenous knowledge pool; in particular, to provide research input for the nation’s development. Sixty years down the line, the outcome has patently failed those...
More »No green signal yet for the Yuva Kisan by MS Swaminathan
In this year's budget, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has essentially tried to consolidate the gains from the initiatives he had launched during the previous two budgets. Thus, in agriculture there is no new initiative except increasing the target for agricultural credit to Rs.5,75,000 crore during 2012-13. This represents an increase of over Rs.1,00,000 crore from last year. The interest rate of four per cent recommended by the National Commission...
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