-The Hindu Alleviating poverty in India requires not only cash transfers but also other enabling changes Advocates of unconditional cash transfers claim that they can be both emancipatory and transformative. They argue that people are quite capable of making rational decisions. And that this kind of basic income support can improve their lives. I have no quarrel with the claim that we must trust the poor. Such suspicion is part of an elite...

-The Asian Age The sharp and sudden collapse of international prices of crude oil brings significant short-term gains for the Indian economy. However, in the medium and long run, the fall in oil prices has ramifications that are far from positive for this country. The windfall gains that have accrued will provide temporary relief for finance minister Arun Jaitley and will enable him to meet the fiscal deficit target in the...

-The Hindu Natural farmer Subhash Palekar says it has led to the destruction of environment and fall in productivity Andhra Pradesh: While the world praises Nobel laureate and father of the Green Revolution Norman Borlaug as the saviour of humanity, Subhash Palekar, zero-budget natural farmer, calls him a ‘fraud'. Mr. Palekar says that Green Revolution is not a revolution at all. ‘It has destroyed soil, water, air, environment, vegetation and finally human...

-Down to Earth The primary health centre (PHC) at Ajara block in Maharashtra's Kolhapur district would handle just eight childbirth cases a year till 2011. Today, it handles over 125 such cases in a year. The health centre became efficient because of a Central government scheme that empowers communities to monitor public health services. In 2010, the residents participated in a jan sunwai (public hearing) session, in which they told senior...

-The United Nations After three months of stability, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization's (FAO) Food Price Index declined in December, meaning the index fell over the course of 2014 for the third consecutive year. The 1.7 per cent fall in December, which comes after the index had appeared to bottom out last month, was credited to continued large supplies and record stocks, combined with a strong US dollar and falling...