Although India is a labour-surplus economy – with an unlimited number of workers willing to work at a subsistence wage – a paradoxical feature of the labour market is the rising incidence of scarcity or shortages amid a situation of potential plenty. No doubt, this pertains to skilled labour. But when 15 per cent of Indian trucks are idle owing to a shortage of drivers or India Inc is worried...

Prices increase six times this kharif forcing farmers to spend an additional Rs. 1,000 crore Increase in the prices of all fertilizers except urea six times during the current kharif season has burdened the farming community in the State by about Rs. 1,000 crore additionally. It is likely to add to the production cost heavily coupled with the increase in other input costs like seed, labour charges, diesel and pesticides. Scanty rainfall...

-The Hindustan Times   As protesters blocked entry points to the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) in Tamil Nadu for the third day in a row, the troubles of the 1,000 families trapped inside the complex deepened with water, milk and other essential supplies beginning to run out. Although V Narayanasamy, minister of state in the prime minister's office, said the government would not abandon the project, one of the officials trapped inside...

Full text of the speech delivered by the Comptroller and Auditor General to young police officers at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy in Hyderabad on October 11, 2011. I am happy to be present today at this premiere training institution to address a group of young officers at the threshold of their careers, as well as senior officers occupying responsible positions in the State Police forces. In a world...

L. Devasagayam moved into the tsunami resettlement quarters in the village of Idinthakarai on the coast in the far south of Tamil Nadu after his neighbourhood further south was destroyed in the 2004 calamity. But now, he worries that the colourful home that he gratefully accepted after that disaster could be his undoing. The reason for the fear confronts him when he steps out of his house. Clearly visible at a...