National Sample Survey data in Income, Expenditure and Productive Assests of Farmer Households, 2003 showed that 96 per cent of farmer households are in deficit and half of the households are indebted. Debt waiver can only be welcomed in such a situation. Once indebted, marginal and small farmers will hardly be in a position to repay the debt even if it is from institutional sources where interest rates are much lower than the rates charged by private moneylenders. (Letters)

The development agenda of the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development has undergone modifications that are unfavourable for developing nations. Can the recent Accra Accord change this? How can UNCTAD be better enabled to address critical development issues?

The loan waiver will lighten the debt burden of the farmers. But in the long term this will adversely affect the rural credit institutions that extend loans to farmers. A discussion of the likely fallout.

This paper presents a methodology for estimating the burden of diseases in monetary terms instead of a demographic indicator. The purpose was to ascertain the financial burden arising out of various categories of morbidity in the community.

It was interesting to read the article 'Rural Short-term Cooperative Credit Structure' by Mandira Sharma and Rajiv Kumar (March 1, 2008) but unfortunately for all the wrong reasons. The authors would have done well to fist understand some basic concepts like capital, non-performing assets, majority shareholding, etc, before commenting at such length on the Vaidyanathan Committee recommendations and implementation of the government of India's revival package based on it. (Letter)