When the annals of corporate accountability, culpability and negligence in India are compiled, the erstwhile Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) is sure to top the list. But not far behind will be Hindustan Unilever (HUL). On4 March, HUL reached an out-of-court settlement with 591 of its former employees from the now defunct thermometer plant in Kodaikanal. The very fact it did is an acknowledgement that the workers were exposed to occupational hazards, something it had stubbornly denied for over a decade.

UIDAI would like to state that the ­author has made a number of serious mathematical errors and operational omissions which have led him to arrive at a completely incorrect conclusion in his paper. First, we will show why operationally the issue of duplicates in ­Aadhaar can nowhere be close to what the author suggests it ought to be. Then we will show how the mathematical model of duplicates as formulated by the ­author is incorrect. In reality, the problem reported by the author is non-existent.

To understand the impact of the odd-even policy in Delhi researchers will need to take into account prevailing weather conditions of not just Delhi, but also its outskirts and neighbouring states.

This paper analyses the phenomenon of jobless growth in India and the United States through the lens of employment elasticity. We decompose the level and change of aggregate employment elasticity in terms of sectoral elasticities, relative growth and employment shares. Estimates of these decompositions are presented with employment and output data from relevant sources for both economies. In India, the agricultural sector was the key determinant of both the level and change of aggregate elasticity till the early 2000s.

The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, a central government scheme of subsidies for low-income housing, is singularly unimaginative and poorly thought-through. It is unlikely to deliver worthwhile results. The promised funds could be far more effectively deployed if used differently. This article examines the scheme's deficiencies and suggests options that should be explored. It also considers the Model Tenancy Act of April 2015 and the National Urban Rental Housing Policy (Draft) released in October 2015.

The extremely liberal regime ushered in by the Electricity Act 2003 allowed a few existingprivate captive thermal generators to make handsome profits, particularly in certain regions with perceived advantages in terms of availability of coal and water. But the majority of proposed projects were abandoned without cost to the communities of the area they were to be located in. Of the rest, only a few are operational with partial capacity, while others are under construction with delayed schedules or have gone into limbo.

Based on two detectors separated by about 3,000 km and using ultra-stable lasers, a new observatory known as the Advanced LIGO has detected gravitational waves generated by the coalescence of two black holes, that turned into a new black hole with the release of about five solar masses of energy in a few milliseconds at a distance of over a billion light years, thus confirming one of the last untested predictions of the General Theory of Relativity.

The article sheds light on the Adi Ganga, one of the most significant streams of the Ganges in its lower course, and narrates how the stream (later Tolly’s Canal) which was once the life line of Kolkata transformed into a mere sewer and was ruthlessly slaughtered with the changing politicoeconomic interests of the state.

Serious epidemics after the December 2015 floods in Chennai were averted by prompt preventive action initiated by the government which was supported by NGOs and citizen groups. This article highlights areas for improvement and initiates a dialogue around the theme of disaster preparedness and better coordinated relief efforts.

Contemporary debates on Indian agriculture need to shift from the traditional focus on physical productivity targets towards smart policies, strengthened and relevant institutions, and an enabling environment, all of which are needed to foster a more profitable, sustainable and resilient agricultural sector capable of ending poverty and boosting shared prosperity.