-The Business Standard But many numbers point to contrary trends The latest numbers on poverty levels are dramatic; they show that the number of people below the poverty line (as defined by the late economist Suresh Tendulkar) has shrunk from 37 per cent of the population to 22 per cent, in the seven years to 2011-12. This is an unprecedented rate of fall in poverty levels; some 40 per cent of those...

-The Economic Times PUNE: After receiving a 32% above-average rainfall in June, the country is likely to get good rainfall in July too. According to IMD officials, the Madden-Julian Oscillations (MJO) has become favourable for the monsoon and will result in good rainfall from mid-July. This will benefit kharif crops, which have been sown early due to timely monsoon. D Shivanand Pai, head of IMD's long-range forecasting division, said, "The Madden-Julian Oscillation...

-The Business Standard Dehradun: The immediate aftermath of a disaster almost always brings out angry responses. The tragic incident in Uttarakhand is no exception. Many experts, who belong to the "I told you so" camp, have come out with their own causal analysis of the tragedy. While town planners are blaming the rapid expansion of construction activities, naturalists are of the view that the disaster is nature's way of restoring balance...

-The Hindu This year, the monsoon has been in rumbustious form. It swept in to Kerala on June 1 and then headed off north with surprising rapidity. So much so that the rain-bearing cloud systems covered the whole country by June 16, a process that is typically completed only by around the middle of next month. Moreover, it has rained copiously. Consequently, about three-quarters of the country have received much...

-Outlook As the Manmohan Singh government makes evident its unfriendliness to villages, the nation hurtles towards disaster. It's a danger no one wants to face. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been trying for years to make us believe that agriculture is a vast marshland in which a huge population is stuck ankle- to neck-deep and it is his duty to rescue them. "Our salvation lies in moving people out of agriculture," he...