From the Middle East to Madagascar, high prices are spawning land grabs and ousting dictators. Welcome to the 21st-century food wars. In the United States, when world wheat prices rise by 75 percent, as they have over the last year, it means the difference between a $2 loaf of bread and a loaf costing maybe $2.10. If, however, you live in New Delhi, those skyrocketing costs really matter: A doubling in...

The health ministry has erected bureaucratic hurdles against a bio-pesticide for mosquito control developed by Indian researchers, denying it entry into the public health programme while accepting similar imported products, scientists and entrepreneurs have said. The bio-pesticide was developed at the Vector Control Research Centre (VCRC) in Puducherry during the 1980s. It is a powder or spray formulation containing a bacterium called Bacillus thuringiensis that can kill the larvae of several...

-The Indian Express   Financial inclusion in India seems to be far from inclusive. Out of a total of 5,165 new branches opened in 2011, only 21.86 per cent are rural branches, says a study. A growth rate of more than 700 per cent in urban Customer Service Points (CSPs) over the last year points towards the latest trend of urbanisation among Business Correspondents (BCs). Although there is not much difference between growth...

I must begin with two disclaimers. The Singur land development and rehabilitation bill, 2011 was moved in the West Bengal legislative assembly last Tuesday by the industries minister with whom I happen to share a name. However, I believe he does not share any of the opinions or sentiments expressed below. Second, I was a persistent critic of the Left Front government when it was in power and what I...

Capitalism is supposed to bring in modernity, which includes a secular polity where ''babas'' and ''swamys'', qua ''babas'' and ''swamys'', have no role. Many have even defended neo-liberal reforms on the grounds that they hasten capitalist development and hence our march to modernity. The Left has always rejected this position. It has argued that in countries embarking late on capitalist development, the bourgeoisie allies itself with the feudal and semi-feudal...