-Livemint.com Quality employment eludes majority of India’s university educated Last year, 2.3 million people, including postgraduates and PhDs, applied for 368 peon posts advertised in Uttar Pradesh. Outrage followed. Why were highly educated people applying for a job which required only primary school education and knowing how to ride a bicycle, people asked. To answer, one needs to find out the jobs people who have been through a university end up in. According...

-Livemint.com NSSO report on land and livestock holdings estimates that around 95 million hectares of land was classified as operational holdings in 2012-13 New Delhi: How much land is actually cultivated in India? Depending on the data source, you might have to give or take the total area of France. Consider this: The latest National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) report on land and livestock holdings estimates that around 95 million hectares of...

-The Times of India After a bruising battle between the rich countries and blocs of not-so-rich ones, the Nairobi World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting of 160 nations failed to reach an agreement on an issue that directly affects 250 million farmers and farm workers in India. One of the bitterest fights, continuing from previous rounds, saw India lead a group of nearly 50 developing countries to stave off attempts by richer...

-Livemint.com Scheduled castes are the most backward, followed by scheduled tribes and other backward classes, shows NSSO data In October, a two-judge Supreme Court bench commented that “national interest requires doing away with all forms of reservations in higher education”. The judges also expressed regret that “some privileges remained unchanged” even after 68 years of independence. Debate on reservations has always been of a polarizing nature in India and abroad. Arguments for...

-Livemint.com A NSSO report shows there are significant caste-based differences in economic status of agricultural households in India New Delhi: Social divisions in India’s countryside are a well-established fact. A National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) report released last week shows there are significant caste-based differences in economic status of agricultural households in India. Unsurprisingly, lower castes are the worst-off by most yardsticks. A large majority of India’s farmers are finding it difficult...