Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Thursday the government will focus on modernising the agricultural marketing system and brining in private players to this sector in the 12th Five Year Plan beginning 2012.
The government's statistical system is being overhauled with painful slowness. The base years for the indices are too far back in time, the weights for different sub-sets are out of date, the methods of data collection are defective, and the statistical methods used simplistic.
How to manage China's rise and mould its behaviour will be one of the biggest diplomatic challenges facing New Delhi in the coming years, says Harsh V Pant.
The Land Acquisition Bill, passed by Parliament last month, will either make projects unviable or expensive for large infrastructure or real estate projects.
India has entered a 'demographic sweet spot' with half of its population being under the age of 29. This 'demographic dividend' is likely to last for 2-3 decades and provides the government a unique opportunity to harness the vast potential of India's youth, points out Raj Kishore Mishra, the former civil servant turned development professional.
It took six months' hard work and more than a dozen visits to-and-from both sides for Washington and New Delhi to make President Barack Obama's visit successful.
In the report titled Toward Realistic US-India relations, authored by George Perkovich of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, he cites an exchange between a senior White House official and an Indian businessman on Iran, which shows how poorly American officials understood India for all the talk of a strategic partnership.
China has suddenly emerged as a technological power by fair means and foul; India also needs to adopt a holistic technology upgradation policy.
Delhi's refusal to beat its chest is part of its recent pragmatic approach to foreign and security affairs, says Jyoti Malhotra
Everyone is adjusting to the new realities of the decline of American power, China's rise and the birth pangs of a new world order. To arrest the India-Russia relationship at this transitory phase is both unrealistic and unnecessary, says M K Bhadrakumar.
The prime minister also said the government has offered to discuss clause by clause of the three farm laws and if there are any shortcomings it was ready to make changes.
China may be grappling with internal problems but that has not stopped it from looking after its strategic interests and projecting its military might. India would do well to get over its Pakistan-obsession and turn its attention to its bigger and more powerful neighbour in the east, says B Raman.
Images from Day 5 of the fourth Test between England and India, at The Oval, on Sunday.
The government is wasting tax money and making a laughing stock of Indian technological prowess. It isn't its job to create and sell cheap PCs.
The 156-page report titled 'Whither Pakistan? Growing Instability And Implications for India' said: "it is very much likely that agencies in Pakistan will continue with their present strategy of using terror as a tool of pressure against India."
The future of sustainable transportation in India lies in developing electric vehicles across transit automobile segments.
India had other heroes as well whose contributions at different stages were extremely crucial, but have gone unnoticed in the 10 years since that glorious victory.
India has progressed further than China in financial liberalisation and its private sector-led model has fostered indigenous entrepreneurship, whereas China is still dominated by highly profitable state monopolies.
Why Indian cities must leverage their universities.
Faqir Chand Kohli, Padma Bhushan, will be 90 on March 19, 2014. It is a day to celebrate for many Indians whose life he has touched directly or indirectly, says Shivanand Kanavi, the well-known technology journalist who as vice-president, TCS, has known Mr Kohli for two decades.
The billions India invested in dams, schools, etc in Afghanistan will be gone. The Hindu and Sikh population of Afghanistan has already shrunk from some 200,000 to about 500, points out Rajeev Srinivasan.
The increasingly loud and belligerent assertion of Beijing's claims in South China has become a matter of strategic concern for many nations for diverse reasons. It comes at a time when nations with diverse interest in the Southeast Asia from the India to Vietnam to Japan and the United States are already concerned about China's growing strategic strength.
The Opposition must understand that while 2024 may draw mileage from the growing resentment towards the BJP, the real battle and proof of how well India learnt from its disastrous dalliance with the Right-wing, will be in 2029, observes Shyam G Menon.
South Africa's swashbuckling batsman AB de Villiers has admitted that he is not satisfied with his current T20 record despite playing a major role in his side's two-match series win against England.
Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on Tuesday said it is difficult to carry out tough reforms in India and emphasised that more reforms are needed to make the country competitive in the global environment. Addressing a virtual event organised by Swarajya magazine, Kant said for the first time, the Centre has carried out hard reforms across sectors, including mining, coal, labour, agriculture, and the next wave of reforms must be pushed by the states.
Shishir Nagaraja, currently associated with the Information Trust Institute of the University of Illinois (US), tells rediff.com, not only about the Google episode, but also his experience with the Office of the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala and the world of hackers, in general.
'The growth drivers are mostly invisible, but the growth is undeniable at least for now,' notes Debashis Basu.
Many in India still believe that the priority No 1 of India's foreign policy should be to make friends with China. Once again, there is nothing wrong to be China's 'friend' or even 'brother', but it should not be at the cost of India's interests or by bending backward over each whim and fancy of a single-party regime in Beijing.
When the Indian brunost bravely ventured into the international cheese arena in Spain, along with 4,000 others from 45 countries, before 230 judges, its sterling desi pedigree spoke for itself, winning a silver in the brown cheese category and giving India a berth on the global cheese map.
Business jets and chartered flights have been an unlikely victim of the recent corruption scandals involving India Inc.
Power and influence are not given. They are taken. China knows how to take it, India does not, says strategic expert B Raman.
Akash Chopra explained why India were reluctant to accept the use of DRS technology initially.
The amount involved is just 3.6 per cent of our forex reserves and the gains to be made are huge -- not to try the idea would be foolhardy.
In the past few years, MFs have emerged as significant institutional buyers, often offsetting the selling by FPIs.
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