The odds of an El Nino phenomenon developing in July through September and potentially affecting the Indian monsoon are dead-even at 50-50, offering hope that India's agriculture and economy may yet escape a crippling blow. A stuttering economy has seen heightened attention on the Pacific warming, known to disrupt the southwest monsoon, as poor rains this year can be a further brake on growth, jeopardizing bonus farm production recorded in recent...
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The political economy of petroleum prices-Vikram S Mehta
Desired outcomes can be reached through a series of ‘imperfect’ small initiatives What is to be done? How can we untie the Gordian knot that has so entangled the political economy of petroleum product prices? This is the question that now exercises our most experienced politicians and our ablest economists. Most well informed people know that a country that imports 80 per cent of its oil requirements cannot de-link itself from the...
More »The withering of age-Harsh Mander
In a Bangladeshi folk story, a disabled grandfather is carried by his son in a basket, to be abandoned in the forest. On seeing this, the grandson calls out, 'Father, please be sure to bring back the basket. I will need it when you grow old'. Three thousand ageing men and women gathered in Delhi in the blazing midsummer heat to demand a universal pension for all aged people, not...
More »House in progress-Hannan Mollah
The Parliament of India, the highest citadel of its democracy, recently completed 60 years. This magnificent circular edifice was inaugurated on January 18, 1927, by the then governor-general, Lord Irwin, and legislative councils had conducted its sessions here. After Independence, the Central Hall accommodated the Constituent Assembly till it completed writing the Constitution. The first Lok Sabha was constituted on April 17, 1952, and the first Rajya Sabha on April...
More »Dr Peter Kenmore, Veteran agricultural scientist and alumnus of Harvard and Berkeley Universities interviewed by Yogesh Pawar
Veteran agricultural scientist and alumnus of Harvard and Berkeley Universities, Dr Peter Kenmore was in Mumbai for NABARD’s 30th anniversary lecture on ‘Future of Global Agriculture: Challenges and Opportunities for India.’ This United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization India representative spoke to Yogesh Pawar on the current scenario in agriculture. Some excerpts: There’s a lot of churn over GM technology in India. At a time when the country is grappling with...
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