Small island developing States (SIDS) face an uphill battle as they strive to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 crisis amid vulnerabilities worsened by the pandemic. The 2021 edition of UNCTAD’s Development and Globalization: Facts and Figures report, highlights the numerous strengths and challenges facing these economically vulnerable countries. …
This report provides an overview of resource use patterns in Asia and the Pacific, explains why sustainable resource use and resource efficiency will become an economic and social imperative for the region, and presents information on how to achieve resource efficiency and sustainable resource use through well-designed policies. The objective …
The World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development will focus on the evolution of gender equality across the world in the context of the development process. The report will consider gender equality as a core development goal in itself, and will argue that gender equality matters for the pace …
The Traditional Bamboo Dependent (TBDs) community produce traditional bamboo products for their subsistence as well as for meeting the local seasonal demand. Bamboo based production activities of TBDs involve four stages, viz., collection of raw materials, processing, production and marketing.
The neo-liberal transformation of global economy has brought in a new trade regime replacing GATT 1947 with incorporation of services and intellectual property in the products to be exchanged and WTO as its powerful regulator. Health being one of the services has become tradable for the first time. India has …
On examining the dynamics of the processes of change in the status of labour and employment in the rapidly globalising state of Gujarat in India, this study shows that the rapid growth in the state has not been shared by labour. This has resulted in the state slipping in poverty …
The Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2011 (Key Indicators 2011), the 42nd edition of this series, is a statistical data book presenting economic, financial, social, and environmental indicators for the 48 regional members of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). This issue of the Key Indicators presents in Part …
The “authoritarianism vs democracy” divide in the ongoing anti-corruption movement is a false one. It conceals the real unity of interests between the authoritarian upper middle class elitist agenda and the political class supposedly defending Indian democracy today. Where do the poor figure here?
Global food prices continue to rise month after month, driven by longer-term and more recent trends. Financialisation is an important factor among the recent trends. There is strong evidence of correlation among the markets for different financial assets, including stocks/shares, commodities and currencies. Falling asset prices in other financial market …
The supporters of liberalisation often argue that if the modern food retail sector is allowed a full round of liberalisation, it may have various positive outcomes, including a reduction in prices. This article raises a counter question, what if the markets, as it happens in several instances, fail to deliver …
This Policy is aimed at laying down an overarching policy framework for infusing competition principles in various policies, statutes and regulations and promoting a competitive market structure in the economy, thereby striving to achieve maximum economy efficiency in various spheres, and public welfare.
The author brings out in his paper how the Indian economy, post liberalization, has become one of the fastest growing economies in the world. He emphasises that for this, availability of a strong infrastructure, including logistic systems, is of paramount importance.
Just over three months ago, Jantar Mantar became the epicentre of a nationwide frenzy against corruption. Social activist Anna Hazare was on a fast-unto-death over his single-point demand of enacting a stringent Lokpal Bill, which would establish an institution to deal with cases of corruption in high offices. Hazare was …
Government and non-government groups have not always been on the best of terms and this relationship has been redefined over the years with changing social and political scenario. The showdown over the Lokpal bill marks a new low. Read this analysis by Down to Earth. Arguably, this is the hottest …
The non-government sector has come of age. Never before has it hogged the limelight as now, following the agitation over the Lokpal Bill. “Civil society has made national news for the first time. We have been in the headlines for three consecutive months,” says Amitabh Beher, executive director of the …
The biggest problem with the Rio conference has been its petty-mindedness. It has consistently refused to look into the basic processes that lead to environmental destruction. The world’s political leaders have shown great fear of the economic and political restructuring that such an approach would demand. The result is a …
India is being variously described as a developing country to an 'almost developed country'. The truth lies towards the latter. It is globalising rapidly and is now one of the leading countries competing for global knowledge work.
The article “Prospects and Policy Challenges in the Twelfth Plan” by Montek S Ahluwalia (EPW, 21 May 2011) offers a comprehensive overview of the subject, but what is missing is a discussion of the risks to the economy. An enumeration and discussion of the many risks that must be taken …
The other day Governor Vohra spoke to a delegation of J&K; Tourism Alliance that had called on him at his official residence in Srinagar. The memorandum presented by the delegation enlisted various demands aimed at improving tourism in the valley. The Governor had his ideas about the subject. The fact …
“This magazine is not a product of a desire to capture share of the information market. It is a product of a need and desire to fill a critical information gap.” Anil Agarwal, founding editor of Down To Earth, wrote this in his introduction to the launch of the fortnightly …
