-Al Jazeera Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unlikely to narrow the gap between Indian elites and the rest of the population India has experienced a significant economic growth spurt in recent decades. After seeing annual growth of 3 percent in the years after independence in 1947, the rate began to double, reaching a rate of around 6 percent per year after 1980. However, the distribution of growth proceeds has been very uneven...

-The Hindu No inkling till MHA put out a press release. The events leading to the release of Census data on religion on Tuesday were a departure from the norm and marked by secrecy, sources in the census office said. The 2011 data had been ready since late-2013, as the office worked on releasing the data far more quickly this time. First, the United Progressive Alliance, in the final year of a stormy...

-The Hindu Response to the three-day APEPDCL exhibition encouraging VISAKHAPATNAM: A space measuring about 25 sft on the rooftop is sufficient to install two 125 watts solar panels, which can light-up at least two lights and run two fans for a minimum of four hours. Installation would cost about Rs. 38,000, but it can reduce the electricity bill by about Rs. 200 on a monthly basis. And, more importantly, solar is green...

-Business Standard Indian farming is labour intensive as mechanization is expensive. This model might change it while keeping the cost very low. The single biggest challenge in farming is debt. A large share of farmers’ insurmountable debt burden comes from purchase of farm equipment. Mechanized farming results in higher productivity but is notoriously capital intensive. A 40 HP tractor with 2 basic implements (a rotavator and a cultivator) and a trolley costs...

-IPS News GUNTUR, India: Thirty-seven-year-old Kode Sujatha stands in front of a hut with a palm-thatched roof, surrounded by a group of men shouting angrily and jostling one another for a spot at the front of the crowd. Each of the boatmen, who carry sand mined from a nearby river to the shore every day, wants to be paid before the others.   Sujatha stares hard at them, holds up a piece of paper...