-The Economist   The world’s population will reach 7 billion at the end of October. Don’t panic IN 1950 the whole population of the earth—2.5 billion—could have squeezed, shoulder to shoulder, onto the Isle of Wight, a 381-square-kilometre rock off southern England. By 1968 John Brunner, a British novelist, observed that the earth’s people—by then 3.5 billion—would have required the Isle of Man, 572 square kilometres in the Irish Sea, for its standing...

The media imagery of a “liberated” Red corridor extending from Andhra Pradesh, cutting across the heart of India, all the way to Nepal is the most vivid representation of the threat that Maoists pose to our country. The Prime Minister describes the Maoists as India's most serious internal security challenge and the Home Minister rates it as a “problem graver than terrorism.” In search of an effective response, official committees have,...

On September 18 an earthquake of the magnitude of 6.8 by the Richter scale struck Sikkim at about 6.18 pm The epicentre of the quake was located about 67 kms north-west of Gangtok—the State capital. The epicenter was located to be precise at Mangan, the headquarter, of the Sikkim North district. There were about four-to-five aftershocks of lesser intensity within five-to-six hours. Minor tremors were felt even after a few...

-The Business Standard Yes, it will help combat the acute shortage of farm labour, but it goes against the Act’s core principles. Devinder Sharma  Food and agricultural policy analyst The crisis in agriculture has worsened and it is directly proportionate to the spread of MNREGA Isn’t it strange? The Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), which was primarily designed as a radical and novel response to combat rural poverty, is actually hitting the very...

The state's rice bowl is left empty An unviable minimum support price (MSP) for rice has forced farmers in Andhra Pradesh to leave their lands fallow. The movement is spreading to other states. “Farming never pays” is a familiar slogan among agriculturists across the world, and especially so in India. Nevertheless, many continue to cultivate their fields year after year, barely eking out an existence, toiling in the hope that the tide...