-The Indian Express Government must step up private sector involvement in agricultural research. Why Bharat Ratna awardee C.N.R. Rao called the acts of politicians "idiotic" is for him to elaborate. Perhaps he was referring to those advocating a ban on GM research in India. After all, Rao has vehemently urged a five-fold increase in funding for research and development in agriculture. That includes research on GM crops. On the food front, we have...

-The Business Standard Expenses such as employment guarantees and loan waivers are, in effect, subsidies that are classified differently in government accounts Over the last few years, the government announced many policy initiatives that purportedly help the weaker sections of our society. Schemes initiated under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) or the distribution of free and affordable food items under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) are examples...

-Live Mint/ Bloomberg As much as better policies and better tax system, it's the humble toilet that can be an engine of future Indian growth On Tuesday, the United Nations marked its inaugural World Toilet Day, designed to draw attention to the fact that more than one-sixth of humanity still lacks indoor sanitation, and that the world needs new ideas and technologies to deal with one of the most basic...

-Down to Earth Half of India's population defecates in the open. In all probability, they will continue to do so for the next 10 years By the time you read this article, some 600 million Indians must have taken that first call of nature. But for most, it must have been very unusual: to take that hesitant and humiliating step out of their homes to defecate in the open. Everyday, an...

-Live Mint NSSO data show that slower pace of jobs creation between 2004-05 and 2011-12 reflects a fall in distressed farm employment Tracing the pace of new jobs created in an economy, a key electoral issue, is a good indicator of inclusive and balanced growth. But in a developing country such as India, the nature of new employment is often as important as the total number of jobs created. The changes...