After the slow pick-up of the $220 One Laptop Per Child Project, and an uncertainty over the $35 laptop called Sakshat, the government is now experimenting with another model—to dole out computers on rent to spread IT literacy in the country. Under a pilot program to be launched by the ministry of IT & communications, computers specially built for rural areas will be deployed in five locations, and then rented...

Chief economic advisor to the finance ministry Kaushik Basu says the government should step in and acquire land for development projects to protect the interests of farmers. He also explains why the government cannot tackle food inflation by distributing free foodgrain among the poor. Excerpts from interview with ET: A large number of land-intensive project have run into opposition. Could it actually undermine our infrastructure thrust and growth? There is...

FEW rural pleasures match seeing a golden field of grain, rustling and ripe for reaping. But the harvest season in the northern hemisphere is being marked by turmoil on global wheat markets. A big reason is to be found in one of the world’s largest wheat exporters, Russia. Hit by fires and drought which have wiped out a third of the grain crop, the authorities there have banned exports, first temporarily...

The alleged appeasement of sarpanches by the Ashok Gehlot government may continue. The committee set up to consider the demands of agitating sarpanches seeking material purchasing power, among other things, in MGNREGS might concede the demands "though in a fresh perspective." According to sources, the committee which met on Wednesday, is working on a policy that would give sole right to the panchayats for issuing tenders for purchasing materials needed...

Increasingly erratic rainfall patterns related to climate change pose a major threat to food security and economic growth, water experts have said, arguing for greater investment in water storage. In a report by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), experts said Africa and Asia were likely to be hardest hit by unpredictable rainfall, and urged policymakers and farmers to try to find ways of diversifying sources of water. The IWMI...