The growth rate of agriculture was three per cent and that of manufacturing was 4.5 per cent during the first three decades after independence. The growth rate for agriculture has slipped to 2.8 per cent while that for manufacturing has increased to 6.4 per cent during the last 15 years. Farmers continue to commit suicides across the country. The groundwater level is declining. The country has to import wheat, edible...
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Low Pulse by Savvy Soumya Misra
Spiralling prices of pulses have shown India’s dependence on imports. Pulses are integral to India’s diet but not its food policy. As a result, supply cannot meet demand. What are the consequences and solutions? Surendra Nath has switched to eating grass-pea, though he knows it is not good for health. But so is tobacco, he argues. He cannot do without pulses and pigeon-pea selling at Rs 100 a kg is beyond...
More »THE FUTURE ISN’T GREEN by SL Rao
Energy security is a major objective of all countries. Some are proactive and aggressive in this pursuit, like China; others like India are slow and procrastinate on major decisions and allow hope to overtake realistic assessments. This makes energy security in the foreseeable future an uncertain goal for India. Any discussion of energy security must keep in mind the Indian realities. Although in overall terms of commercial energy use to...
More »Rural distress
KEY TRENDS • The report entitled Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana: An Assessment from the Centre for Science and Environment (released on 21 July, 2017) finds that PMBY is not beneficial for farmers in vulnerable regions. For farmers in vulnerable regions such as Bundelkhand and Marathwada, factors like low indemnity levels, low threshold yields, low sum insured and default on loans make PMFBY a poor scheme to safeguard against extreme weather events. CSE's...
More »HDI Overview
KEY TRENDS • In 2018, India's Human Development Index (HDI) ranking was 129th (HDI value 0.647) among 189 countries and UN recognized territories, while China's ranking was 85th (HDI value 0.758), Sri Lanka's 71st (HDI value 0.780), Bhutan's 134th (HDI value 0.617), Bangladesh's 135th (HDI value 0.614) and Pakistan's 152th (HDI value 0.560) *8 • In 2017, India's Human Development Index (HDI) ranking was 130th (HDI value 0.640) among 189 countries, while China's ranking was 86th (HDI...
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