Water management requires multiple levels of policy action. The problem is not a shortage of water, but the absence of proper mechanisms for its augmentation, conservation, distribution, and effi cient use. Water management should be given number one priority in agricultural policy, particularly to prevent drought, minimise the risks due to drought and build a climate-resilient agriculture.

India's track record of forming robust, self-sustaining farmer cooperatives has been poor ever since the early 1900s when the movement began. For long, restrictive laws were blamed for their failure. But most of the 2,000 farmer producer companies registered under a new amendment to the Companies Act 1956 appear like old wine in a new bottle. This article explores why, and argues for the need to focus on the logic and process of promoting new farmer cooperatives to improve their success rate.

Indian agriculture is once again in a slowdown. After the spurt of 2004–05—2011–12 when growth accelerated and the variability of production declined, in recent years growth has slowed and volatility has risen. Given weak world economic prospects and looming climate change, the main objectives of agricultural policy should now be to (i) enhance effi ciency of production and natural resource use, and (ii) devise appropriate safety nets to cope with risks whether from markets or climate.

Emissions from solid fuels used for cooking cause ~4 million premature deaths per year. Advanced solid-fuel cookstoves are a potential solution, but they should be assessed by appropriate performance indicators, including biological effects. Objective: The researchers evaluated two categories of solid-fuel cookstoves for 8 pollutant- and 4 mutagenicity-emission factors, correlated the mutagenicity-emission factors, and compared them to those of other combustion emissions.

With the formation of the World Trade Organization in 1995, the United States farm subsidies had moved towards income support, reducing spending on price support measures. The explicit reason was that the WTO had held that the latter forms were more market distorting and had thus put limits on their spending. The new Farm Act 2014 has changed the orientation of farm spending in the opposite direction. Pricebased measures are back in focus, and the US seems less concerned about breaching its WTO limits.

This article investigates the impact of court verdicts on Chennai’s canals, tanks and related wetlands. It discusses three interlinked cases surrounding Buckingham Canal area and argues that the verdicts in these cases allowed the administration to destroy sophisticated water systems. It also argues that these waterbodies could have mitigated, if not prevented, the November–December 2015 fl oods in Chennai.

What impact has the award of the Fourteenth Finance Commission had on the resources and spending of state governments? Does it necessarily have to lead to a decline in outlays in the social sector? An illustrative and preliminary exercise for Bihar.

The KMS 2014 is financed by the special grant from the State Planning Board, Government of Kerala and Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India through its Research Unit on International Migration. This is an abridged version of the larger report prepared by the authors for the Kerala State Planning Board. We are also thankful to the anonymous referee for the constructive comments.

A close examination of Bihar's recent growth experience reveals several paradoxes. These are paradoxes only with reference to certain orthodox positions widely held in development economics. Resolving these paradoxes helps formulate a more incisive understanding of what bottlenecks lie in the way of eliminating poverty in Bihar and opens the way for working out solutions to the problem. 

The issue of regulation of doctors and private hospitals is one that is increasingly becoming important for the citizen. The attempts by professional medical associations to scuttle the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act of 2010 is the context for this essay on the issues that afflict the provision of private healthcare. After a critical discussion of all the major issues, the essay outlines what needs to be done to prevent and address the malpractices and abuses that are widely prevalent in the country.