-Livemint.com An uneven distribution of rainfall has left several key rice-producing states parched even as others had to battle excess water The patchy progress of the southwest monsoon this year has cast a long shadow on India’s kharif crop produce, particularly of rice, which is an important constituent of the government’s food distribution programmes. The THReat comes right after wheat production in the rabi season took a hit from heatwaves and at...

-The Hindu Business Line Experts say current manual methods are error-prone, moot scientific process The advance crop estimate made by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare usually differs between the first and subsequent THRee ones before it comes out with the final estimate. However, the difference has seldom caused problems in the agricultural markets or led to complaints of not reflecting what the trade has felt is the ground reality. But some...

Are public sector banks (PSBs) important for the economy? Have the PSBs served the purpose for which they were created? Could the PSBs compete efficiently against the private sector banks (PVBs)? These are some of the questions, which have been answered by a chapter in the RBI Bulletin's August edition. Efficiency of PSBs Co-authored by Snehal S Herwadkar, Sonali Goel, and Rishuka Bansal (2022) of the Banking Research Division, Reserve Bank of...

-The Hindu India has failed to propagate scientific literacy not only among the public, but also among scientists themselves This 75th year of Independence is a major milestone for India; a time to take stock of the developments in various spheres over the last seven decades. Sadly, with some notable exceptions such as this newspaper, the print and electronic media have not really taken stock of what has happened to science education...

-The Hindu Business Line Lack of data and monitoring on cropping patterns and water use has given irrigation schemes a bad name Long before the British Raj, India was a pioneer in canal irrigation by building dams across rivers. After Independence, considering the importance of canal irrigation, the Central and State governments have been giving increased THRust to its development. Today, India is one of the countries with the largest number of...