-The Week A revolutionary farming system is working wonders in Nalanda district Nalanda: If not for an agricultural technique known as SRI (system of rice intensification), Sumant Kumar of Darveshpura in Bihar's Nalanda district would have remained a faceless farmer. In 2012, with the help of the state agriculture department, he tried out SRI on an acre that usually bore only modest yields. It worked, and Sumant got a bumper harvest. An...

-Vikalp The recently concluded Bali Ministerial marks an important milestone in the WTO negotiations. The National Food Security Act, 2013 in India has brought the issue of food security and hunger within developing countries to the forefront of the negotiations in the WTO. In this context, the G-33 proposal addressing the issue of non-recognition of food security concerns of developing countries within the global trade rules reflected a meaningful unity within...

-The Hindu Puducherry: Revenue officials from Puducherry rescued 10 persons, including a child, of the Irula community who were employed as bonded labourers in a sugarcane farm in Andhra Pradesh. Senthamilselvan, Bhaskar, Jayamoorthy, Valarmathi, Azhagar, Shekar, Shaktivel, Rani, Kalyani and 5-year-old Vijay, all from Earipakkam near Bahour in Puducherry, were employed in a sugarcane field in Illathur in Andhra Pradesh. Speaking to The Hindu, District Collector S.B. Deepak Kumar said the issue came...

-Frontline In a situation of increasing life expectancy and crumbling traditional support structures, a universal social pension scheme that does not rely on contribution by a person or an employer can help the elderly. INDIA prides itself on being a "young" society, likely to benefit from a demographic dividend as children and young people move into working age groups over the next decade. This optimistic view assumes that society will be able...

-The Hindu There has been a systemic breakdown in the justice delivery system The critics of the Aarushi murder case seem unable to see the wood for the trees. The focus of endless debate on the case has been on an inadequate appreciation of evidence and the role of the media in cases of this nature. The main issue appears to have been missed - the fact that the overcooked scrutiny is...