Considered to be the largest contributor to the growth in the world’s urban population in the coming years, India and its urbanisation process have reached a critical juncture. As one of the fastest growing countries, urbanisation is undoubtedly an opportunity and a challenge for India with huge implications for the rest of the world.

Farmers in India are exposed to large agriculture risks due to vagaries of nature. One of the most effective mechanisms to mitigate agricultural risks is to have a robust insurance system.

The paper presents a case for a phased rolling out of direct benefits transfer (DBT) for Food in India.

In India, Prime Minister Modi has set an ambitious target of installing 100 GW (100,000 MW) of solar power capacity by 2022. The current solar capacity in India stands at 8 GW as on July end, 2016. Thus, the target of moving from 8 GW in July 2016 to 100 GW by 2022, is one of the most ambitious targets globally.

The COP-21 meeting in Paris produced an important result. For the first time all countries developed and developing agreed to take some mitigation action.

Urban water and wastewater management are relatively under-studied subjects in India. The Indian urban space has been understood in an undifferentiated manner, which ignores the specificities deriving from the stage of urban development, the sources of water, as also the diverse nature of aquifers characterizing urban settlements.

The National Food Security Act (NFSA) 2013 combines and expands the scope of some existing food-based welfare schemes. It will be distributing raw rations, meal(s) and/or cash. Approximately 81.35 crore persons or 16.57 crore households are to benefit under the targeted public distribution system (TPDS) under the Act.

This working paper by Ashok Gulati and Shweta Saini of Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) approaches the question of disconnect between El Nino and Indian droughts by exploring the timing of El Nino developments in a year and its relation with monsoon rains. Read full text.