-Livemint.com A leaked NSO survey report says that expenditure by consumers across India actually fell over a six-year span till 2017-18. This is at odds with our GDP data. So what explains this finding? Is Indian consumption in decline? Anecdotal evidence has pointed that way for some time. But now, a leaked survey report of the National Statistical Office (NSO), published on Friday in Business Standard, seems to confirm suspicions of such...

-The Telegraph Without simultaneous steps to raise productivity, passive acceptance of lost competitiveness has shaped India's approach India’s last-minute withdrawal from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement has elicited much commentary. That it happened after exciting positive signals from senior government functionaries amidst vociferous opposition by noted lobby groups surprised all. A sizeable segment, however, backs the retreat, noting India’s current economic situation and low competitiveness to describe it as economic and...

-The Telegraph Policymakers need to look at women’s reproductive health comprehensively Light seems to have finally appeared at the end of a long, dark tunnel for India. According to the latest Sample Registration System report, the maternal mortality ratio has declined by eight points between 2014-16 and 2015-17. In real numbers, 2,000 deaths have been averted per year in this period. One of the reasons behind this success is the INCreased access...

-Networkideas.org Pulses are highly nutritious and their consumption is associated with many health benefits. They are rich in proteins and minerals, high in fibre and have a low fat content. Pulses are produced by plants of the Leguminosae family. These plants have root nodules that absorb inert nitrogen from soil air and convert it into biologically useful ammonia, a process referred to as biological nitrogen fixation. Consequently, the pulse crops do...

-Livemint.com * Outdated ideas of constructing dams and embankments have INCreased monsoon floods in India * The attempt to control rivers is the result of a British colonial hangover, even though western countries are moving away from dams In 13 states of India this year, the monsoon appeared in the form of floods. The same happened in the Terai region of Nepal, Karachi and the Neelum valley area in Pakistan, several low-lying districts...