-The Tribune The community has to pay the cost of environmental degradation if sustainable agricultural practices are not followed. Food can also be produced by in-built provisions for ecological services. For this, sustainability issues have to be addressed with policy support. An ecosystem is a dynamic, complex, functional unit of diverse living organisms, physical environment and humans are its integral part. The wellbeing of mankind depends upon food, water, fibre, medicine, flood...

-Economic and Political Weekly     Sustained and focused efforts have to be made by the Tamil Nadu state government to provide relief and rehabilitation to the drought affected people of the state. S Rajendran (myrajendran@gmail.com) is with the Department of Economics, Periyar University, Salem, Tamil Nadu. Due to the failure of the north-east monsoon in December 2013, Tamil Nadu is witnessing drought like conditions this year, leading to poor agricultural productivity, rural distress,...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The large difference between wholesale and retail prices of onions in markets such as Delhi, Indore, Chandigarh and Mumbai has taken the government by surprise despite several steps announced by it, including an advisory to states to crack down on hoarding and speculation. Data available with the government showed that last week, the key kitchen ingredient was available for Rs 12.75 a kg in the wholesale...

-The Times of India   Last month's general election brought the role of media under the spotlight. Media faced severe criticism from political parties, intellectuals and industry insiders for allegedly being partisan during elections. A large section of mainstream media has been castigated as "paid media" by social media enthusiasts. In this context, however, a great deal of work already exists in the political economy literature analyzing the real effects of having a...

-The Business Standard   Universal health scheme on the cards; Spend on the sector likely to be raised The Union Budget is likely to announce the first of the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government's social welfare schemes for the health sector - the National Health Assurance Mission. The programme will provide universal health care and offer comprehensive health insurance for the poor. The Budget could also, sources say, propose the government's mission-mode...