This book reviews the history of labour relations in Nepal and considers criticisms of the existing industrial relations system. It reports on the re-emergence of the militant Maoist trade union and the recent upsurge in strikes and demonstrations in Nepal. A reduction in workplace tension is needed to cement in place the recent peace agreement, facilitate political stability and promote economic growth.

Focusing on broad economic developments since 1990, it sheds light on how labour legislation and labour institutions have influenced investment, growth and jobs over the long term. The views of those most directly affected by the labour legislation, institutions and attitudes that govern industrial relations in Nepal have been collected through surveys and interviews with managing directors and entrepreneurs, trade union leaders and hundreds of ordinary workers from a range of locations, industries and occupations. These views have heavily influenced the conclusions presented in this volume.

The world faces a huge challenge of creating productive jobs for its expanding labour force. Unlike the challenge of sustaining global economic growth or that of correcting global trade imbalances, this global employment challenge is barely recognized and its nature and magnitude are certainly not well understood. Indeed, there is a widespread (though rarely stated) belief that even in an era of globalization employment remains a national concern, so that there can be no such thing as a global employment challenge. Yet the employment challenge today is global in several important respects. Inadequate availability of productive jobs is now a worldwide phenomenon. Global forces – cross-border flows of trade, capital and labour – have significant con - sequences for employment in individual countries. Also, international policies are now as important as national policies for expanding opportunities for productive employment in less developed countries, which is where most of the world’s workers live and where almost all of the world’s new workers will live.

The relatively faster growth of tertiary sector vis-a-vis other broad sectors of the economics, as they experience a higher growth rate, has become almost a universal phenomenon. This has given rise to contemporary issues related to this form of economic development. The topicality of this issue is the broad theme of this book.

Numerous studies have been devoted to the growth of the agricultural and manufacturing sectors of the developing countries, but the services sector has received far too inadequate attention of the researchers. An attempt has been made in this book to fill this gap.

A unique feature of the book is that it attempts to answer the following set of questions in a systematic manner.

With contributions from India's most distinguished economists, this collection of papers—commissioned for the Silver Jubilee conference of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations—addresses important policy challenges facing India as it becomes increasingly integrated in global economy.

The Indian Economic Journal is the main Journal of the Indian Economic Association. It is published quarterly and it is a fully refereed Journal. Its main objective is to provide a forum for dissemination of the research findings of scholars from all over the world, on Issues of analytical, methodological and practical value to the professional community. The IEJ is now in its 55th year of publication.

Growth-induced structural changes have precipitated a phenomenal increase in energy consumption in the economies of the Asian region. Importantly, Asia’s burgeoning demand for oil and gas is a crucial factor in the current world energy market and has occupied centre stage in the contemporary discourse on global energy security. This book explores one aspect of such transition, envisaging the emerging pattern of energy interdependence between India as a major energy consuming and importing country and the prominence of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries as the major source of energy supplies for India and the Asian region as a whole. The book argues that the evolving pattern of energy related links and tendencies will act as a stimulant to boost bilateral economic relations between India and the GCC to an elevated trajectory.

In this book the author explores the relevance of communitarian institutional approach for sustainable management of renewable natural resources in Rajasthan. The book is interdisciplinary and closely verifies institutional development within the power theoretic framework. Moving from case to case, it searches for a conceivable strategy for equitable management of renewable natural resources in the public domain. While having followed proven methodologies, it has examined several aspects of institutional interventions and ecological changes that have serious implications for livelihood generation.

Despite the fact that the rural society is socially and economically heterogeneous, the book reveals that institutional sustainability against the backdrop of unequal power relations may succeed in restoring degraded eco-system by means of expanding bio-diversity. And, by doing so, it could ensure livelihood of the poor and the disadvantaged in a drought that prevailed for more than three years. All these bring missing links between poverty reduction and ecological restoration to the centre of the development discourse. Prof. Ray has systematically drawn some insightful lessons from the scenario analysis of the institutions and explores complementarity between market and community institutions. While conflicts on command over renewable resources in the state are inescapable, their resolution must be sought in the public domain, suggests Prof. Ray. It may call for vertical integration between the state, civil society organisations and community institutions.

Authentic and authoritative, this presentation in two volumes shares a comprehensive overview of the extensive research undertaken by the Agro Economic Research Centres (AERCs) and the concerns confronting Indian agriculture. Established across the states in India to provide policy feedback to the Ministry of Agriculture, the AERCs generated many important research initiatives and debates over five decades.

The volume on macro premise deals with the broader themes like macro policy changes, WTO, tariff policy, institutional issues, minimum support prices etc., whereas, the volume on micro issues addresses the problems confronted by each of the participating states at the regional level.

According to WESP 2008, the world economy is facing serious challenges in sustaining the strong pace of economic growth seen over the past few years. While the baseline forecast is for world economic growth to moderate somewhat in 2008, the risks associated with the bursting of the housing bubble in the United States, the related unfolding credit crisis, the decline of the dollar, large global imbalances and high oil prices are all pointing to the downside. The report draws some lessons from the global financial turmoil of 2007, which was triggered by the meltdown of sub-prime mortgages in the United States, and points out that the various measures adopted by central banks of the major economies did not address the root causes of the turmoil: the huge global imbalances. In an alternative scenario, which takes into account the possibility of a sharper-than-expected decline in house prices in the United States and a hard landing of the US dollar, the United States economy would fall into a recession, while global growth would be significantly lower than the baseline. In addition to trends in international trade and capital flows, WESP 2008 also covers the latest progress and policy issues related to international trade negotiations and reform of the international financial system.

The Planning Commission has decided to prepare State Development Reports (SDRs) for all States and Union Territories of India. The objective in bringing out these reports is to provide a credible independent quality reference document on the development profile, set out strategies for accelerating the growth rate of States, lessen disparities and reduce poverty. The SDR is meant to discuss the constraints and challenges faced by a State and provide a vision, blueprint or a roadmap for its socioeconomic progress.

Each SDR is being prepared with the assistance of reputed national-level agencies, under the supervision of a core committee, headed by a Member of the Planning Commission, and including a senior representative of the State Government. The publication of the Maharashtra Development Report follows the recently published SDRs of Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh, while SDRs of many other States and Union Territories of India are under various stages of preparation.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands Development Report highlights issues related to the development priorities of the islands and the road ahead in health, education, tribal development, environment, agriculture, ports, shipping and air connectivity. The report suggests a long-term plan to restore the livelihoods, adversity affected by the Tsunami in December 2004. It is expected to serve as a useful reference material and stimulate informed debate on the policy issues faced by the Union Territory.

This authoritative compendium brings together the latest thinking of leading academics, actuaries, and development professionals in the microinsurance field. The result is a practical, wide-ranging resource which provides the most thorough overview of the subject to date.

The book allows readers to benefit from the valuable lessons learned from a project launched by the CGAP Working Group on Microinsurance analysing operations around the world. Essential reading for insurance professionals, practitioners and anyone involved with offering insurance to low-income persons, this volume covers the many aspects of microinsurance in detail, including product design, marketing, premium collection and governance.

It also discusses the various institutional arrangements available for delivery such as the community- based approach, insurance companies owned by networks of savings and credit cooperatives and microfinance institutions.

The roles of key stakeholders are also explored and the book offers insightful strategies for achieving the right balance between coverage, costs and price.

Founded in 1958 by the great academic visionary and institution-builder Professor V.K.R.V. Rao, the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi today ranks amongst the premier research institutes of the country. It is always the people belonging to an institution who are responsible for its greatness. Commemorating the fiftieth year of the Institute, several illustrious members of the ‘IEG family’, including present faculty, the former faculty, visiting fellows and Ph.D. students, have come forward to share their thoughts, memories and feelings for their institute—the IEG.

With 36 chapters in six parts, 17 boxes and 26 photographs, this festschrift volume also reflects the evolution of research in social sciences at the IEG during the period 1958-2007. These recollections and reflections together provide an interesting insight into how the institution was set up and how it has evolved and contributed to research, training, teaching and policymaking. The small anecdotes throughout the book—in the form of boxes, reflecting informal profiles of some distinguished academics as also aspects of campus life—provide an interesting read.

Promoted by Transparency International India, this book has been compiled to create awareness about the current state of governance in India and directions needed to improve governance in the country. The volume seeks to analyse the efforts made in this direction and the various tools available to the common man for availing hassle free public services one is entitled to.

The book is divided into four parts.

— The first part deals with the perception about governance since time  immemorial.

— Part two covers the state of governance in four major monopolistic services, namely, the police, judiciary, income tax and property registration, and the efforts required to improve these services.

— Part three attempts at creating awareness amongst readers about various tools of improving governance and means and ways to use them. These tools include: Citizens' Charters, Right to Information, e-Governance, Social Audits, Report Card and Integrity Pact.

— Part four contains some exemplary initiatives to enable the concerned quarters to replicate them in order to improve the public service delivery system in some of the major public services.

This Report is focused on the informal or the unorganised sector of the economy, which accounts for an overwhelming proportion of the poor and vulnerable population in an otherwise shining India. It concentrates on a detailed analysis of the conditions of work and lives of the unorganised workers consisting of about 92 per cent of the total workforce of about 457 million.

One of the major highlights of this Report is the quantification of unorganised or informal workers, defined as those who do not have employment security, work security and social security. These workers are engaged not only in the unorganised sector but in the organised sector as well. The picture that the Report presents is based on the latest available set of data from the Sixty-first Round of the National Sample Survey in 2004-05. This has been supplemented with data from other sources.

World Investment Report 2007 (WIR07) is the seventeenth in a series published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The Report analyses the latest trends in foreign direct investment (FDI) and puts a special focus in 2007 on the role of transnational corporations (TNCs) in the extraction of oil, gas, and metal minerals.

Higher prices for many minerals have led to renewed investor interest in the extractive industries. TNCs—including some of the world´s largest corporations—play a key role in the mining of metals and in the extraction of oil and gas. Privately owned TNCs dominate the harvesting of metal minerals, while State-owned companies from developing and transition economies are key players in oil and gas. Many such State-owned firms are emerging as TNCs in their own right.

The Trade and Development Report 2007, subtitled "Regional cooperation for development", recommends that developing countries should strengthen regional cooperation with other developing countries, but proceed carefully with regard to North-South bilateral or regional preferential trade agreements. Such agreements may offer gains in terms of market access and higher foreign direct investment, but they can also limit national policy space, which can play an important role in the medium- and long-term growth of competitive industries. By contrast, strengthened regional cooperation among developing countries can help accelerate industrialization and structural change and ease integration into the global economy. However, to achieve this, trade liberalization is not enough; active regional cooperation should also extend to areas of policy that strengthen the potential for growth and structural change, including monetary and financial arrangements, large infrastructure and knowledge-generation projects, and industrial policies.

Rice has long been one of the most protected commodities in world trade. Now the probable significant liberalisation of trade in rice is likely to have huge welfare implications for many countries dependent on its production and trade, particularly those in South Asia.

This book explores the poverty and welfare implications of this liberalisation for India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and identifies the effects on different groups within poor rice-dependent developing countries.

This book will be of great interest to researchers and policy makers, in South Asia and elsewhere, looking at the distributional consequences of multilateral trade agreements in terms of poverty and welfare within individual countries.

This comprehensive and accessible text fills the need for a political economy view of global environmental politics, focusing on the ways key economic processes affect environmental outcomes. It examines the main actors and forces shaping global environmental management, particularly in the developing world. Moving beyond the usual academic emphasis on inter-national agreements and institutions, it strives to integrate debates within the real world of global policy and the academic world of theory.

The book maps out an original typology of four contrasting worldviews of environmental change—those of market liberals, institutionalists, bioenvironmentalists, and social greens— and uses these as a framework to examine the links between the global political economy and ecological change. This typology not only helps students understand and participate in debates about these worldviews but also provides a common language for students and instructors to discuss the issues across the social sciences. The book covers globalization and its consequences for the environment; the evolution of global discourse and global environmental governance; wealth, poverty, and consumption; the impact on the environment of global trade and trade agreements; transnational corporations and differential environmental standards; and the environmental effects of international financing, including multilateral lending and aid and bilateral and private finance. Brief, illustrative case studies appear throughout the text.

From Resource Scarcity to Ecological Security revisits the findings of “The Global 2000 Report to the President” — commissioned by President Jimmy Carter and released in 1980 — and presents an up-to-date over-view, informed by the earlier projections, of such critical topics as population, water, food, energy, climate change, deforestation, and biodiversity. It examines current environmental trends in order to consider the state of the global environment over the next thirty years and discusses what can be done now to achieve ecological security.

The contributors to From Resource Scarcity to Ecological Security find that the world population will likely continue to level off, but the population decline in many industrialized countries will create new socioeconomic and political problems — including the "reverse demographic shock" of disproportionately large aging populations. Although world food production is likely to increase at a rate that keeps up with population growth, greater demand in China as well as distributional issues will keep significant numbers of people malnourished. In addition to these continuing scarcity issues, ecological insecurity may increase because of new threats that include global warming, loss of biodiversity, bioinvasion, and the rapid worldwide spread of new diseases. Assessing Limits to Growth not only analyzes the nature of these impending problems but also suggests ways to solve them.

The book carries contributions by eminent social scientists on some very important topics relating to India's economic and social development.

The volume begins with issues relating to human development, such as education, health and governance. This is followed by comparison of India and China development paths. In a diverse country like India, fiscal matters at State level are important. These are discussed in the section on Indian fiscal federalism. Another section covers issues on employment, unemployment, safety nets for the poor and social dimensions of globalisation. The volume concludes with an analysis of the recent issues in agriculture.

The volume, divided into four sections, deals with strategic developments pertaining to Asia. Recognising the diverse 'push' and 'pull' factors impinging on a country's strategic posture, the volume starts off by dealing with issues which the Advisory Committee of Experts guiding this publication felt were of immediate relevance. Accordingly, the first section, on “International Security Issues” has articles analysing India's responses to the global energy security challenges, the resurgent Russia, the emerging military technologies and their security implications for India, the 'global war on terror' and the issues concerning the nuclear non-proliferation regime.

The next three parts contain in-depth analyses of major events in South, East and the West and Central regions of Asia. These constitute India's immediate and extended strategic neighbourhood. The wide range of issues dealt with include the evolving partnership between India and the United States, the changes in the contours of the Sino-Indian and the Sino-Japanese relationship, an evaluation of the India-Pakistan peace process, the challenges of institutionalising democracies in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Afghanistan, the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, the East Asian 'economic dynamism and political flux', Pyongyang's nuclear 'brinkmanship', Iran's nuclear programme, developments in Israel-Palestinian relations, and the role of major powers in Central Asia.

The volume also presents a Statistical Appendix containing defence and conflict-related data for important countries in Asia.

The report focuses on the Buildinge-Community Centres for Rural Development Workshop co-organized by UNESCAP and ADBI, aimed at examining the various issues related to CeCs in the Asia and the Pacific region and share good practices that can be used as models for successful development and operation of these centres.

Earlier versions of the papers in this volume were presented at the “Regional Conference on Migration and Development in Asia”, held in Lanzhou, China, 14-16 March 2005. The conference, hosted by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was organised by IOM and funded by Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID).

Though there has been increasing attention paid to the potential role migration can play in fostering development, most of that attention has tended to focus on international migration. Internal migration has been somewhat neglected but is also an extremely important policy area.

One of the key aims of the Lanzhou conference was to identify more effective ways to enhance the benefits of internal migration for poverty reduction and development, and how this could be complemented by strategies to ensure that migrants have decent working conditions and access to health and social services.

OECD's first economic survey of the Indian economy. It opens with a broad overview of economic developments over the past twenty years, showing how India has grown to become the third largest economy in the world. It then examines a series of specific policy areas including the unbalanced growth across states, competition policy and reforming India's product and service markets, improving the performance of labour markets, improving the financial system, improving the fiscal system, improving infrastructure, and upgrading the educational system. For each policy area, a series of recommendations is made.

Authored by the distinguished economist N.A. Mujumdar, the bunch of 19 papers brought together in this book seeks to argue that in the present Indian context, inclusive growth has become both, a growth and a development imperative: growth, because a high GDP growth like 8 or 9 per cent can be sustained only if other sectors or segments of the economy, which have been sluggish because of number of factors including policy neglect, can be activated; development, because this is perhaps the best route by which the bulk of the poor can be provided with livelihood and food security.

Facilitating inclusive growth is a far more complicated process, involving micro planning, evolving area specific solutions and participation of a number of actors panchayati raj institutions, central and state Governments and NGOs, SHGs, etc. Inclusive growth also demands a committed bureaucracy and more imaginative policymakers, from both of whom a pro-active role is warranted. The exploratory work embodied in this book, it is hoped, would provoke further studies on the subject.

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Indian economic development is only five decades old. Its future course seems to be bright but uncertain. There are lots of good and impressive points about India’s emergence as a prominent economic power and people in industrialized countries are taking note of these changes. India’s huge middle class, that increasingly includes the rural well to do, are all aspiring for a higher standard of life for themselves and for their children. They are making their children seek better marks and learn new skills; they are doing their best in all walks of life to get ahead and catch up with global standards. It is this middle class that is the driving force behind the great push forward that can make India great in the future. In this thrust forward, this book discusses the role of the government. But more importantly, the book aims at explaining the workings of the Indian economy, not to the ‘initiated’, but to the intelligent reader who is interested in knowing more about India’s changing economic pattern. It aims at presenting the various intricacies of the Indian economic system simply and clearly.

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The key ingredients of economic freedom are personal choice, voluntary exchange, freedom to compete, and protection of the person and property. Economic freedom liberates individuals and families from government dependence and gives them control of their own future. Empirical research shows this spurs economic growth by unleashing individual dynamism. It also leads to democracy and other freedoms as people are unfettered from government dependence.

The annual Economic Freedom of the World Report ranks countries on their level of economic freedom. This comprehensive index, constructed under the leadership of The Fraser Institute and Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman, is the most objective and accurate measure of economic freedom published to date by any organization and the only one that uses reproducible measures appropriate for peer-reviewed research.

An ancient Chinese proverb tells us “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” The same can be said for development assistance. Solutions provided by outside “experts” are often rejected or politely shelved. However, solutions based on the principle of “self-help” are far more likely to take root.

This book explores the self-help, peer learning approach of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), comparing it with that of IDRC. It focuses on the importance of networks to development and growth, and demonstrates that network management is fundamentally different from the management of companies, organizations, or other bodies that fall under a single authority.

The book will be of interest to planners, policymakers, and researchers in the industrialised and developing worlds, and particularly in the new and emerging democracies of Eastern Europe.

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World Economic and Social Survey 2007: Development in an Ageing World

Greater longevity is an indicator of human progress in general. At the same time, increased life expectancy and lower fertility rates are changing the population structure worldwide in a major way: the proportion of older persons is rapidly increasing, a process known as population ageing. The process is inevitable and is already advanced in developed countries and progressing quite rapidly in developing ones.

The World Economic and Social Survey has also come of age as it celebrates the sixtieth anniversary of the publication, which first appeared in 1948 (then called the World Economic Survey).

The Survey argues that the challenges are not insurmountable, but that societies everywhere need to put in place the policies required to confront those challenges effectively and to ensure an adequate standard of living for each of their members, while respecting and promoting the contribution and participation of all.

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The Planning Commission has decided to prepare State Development Reports (SDRs) for all States and Union Territories of India. The objective in bringing out these reports is to provide a credible independent quality reference document on the development profile, set out strategies for accelerating the growth rate of States, lessen disparities and reduce poverty. The SDR is meant to discuss the constraints and challenges faced by a State and provide a vision, blueprint or a roadmap for its socioeconomic progress.

The Lakshadweep Development Report highlights issues related to the development of small islands and the road ahead for the progress of the Union Territory. Lakshadweep's potential in tourism, coconut development and its transformation in social sectors are well documented in the report. Infrastructure, human development, biodiversity and environment protection, governance and economic issues of Lakshadweep are adequately addressed in the report. The report is expected to serve as a useful reference material and stimulate informed debate on the policy issues facing the Union Territory.

Rajasthan, the largest state in India, started its quest for development with several handicaps and a few advantages. Nearly two-third of its area is arid or semi-arid, with low and irregular rainfall characterised with extremes of climate. For a predominantly agrarian economy these conditions prove a major handicap in ensuring sustainable growth.

If geography of the state is proving a stumbling block, its history—especially, recent history— makes the task of sustainable growth all the more daunting. The feudal tendencies had a deep sway over social organisation, which was characterised by hierarchical outlook, paternalistic institutions, low status of women and sharp social and economic discrimination against certain sections of population.

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Economic instruments have become increasingly popular worldwide as s strategy to achieve environmental goals. The National Environment Policy, 2006 recommends the use of economic instruments to supplement regulation. Unlike emission taxes or tradable permits which require legal and institutional capacity, ecotaxes on polluting inputs and outputs can be easily implemented through the existing system of central taxes. For dispersed non-point source pollution, a tax on input/output is an ideal instrument for controlling pollution. This volume contains ecotax proposals for coal, automobiles, detergents, paper and pulp, pesticides, fertilisers, lead acid batteries and plastics.

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After six decades of Independence about half of rural households in the country do not have access to electricity and the quality and quantity of electricity provided to rural users are far from expectation. Large technical and commercial loss makes the rural electricity system financially unviable. The overall governance of rural electricity system has polluted the existing socio-political and economic environment to an extent that rational decision making has become far too difficult. The structural reform in electricity sector that started since early nineties has not resulted in improved services to the rural customers in spite of a significant increase in electricity tariff. From the experiences in India and around the world, the book provides directions for rural electricity system development in the country considering the development concerns, regulatory and policy issues, technology options and tariff, and governance mechanism.

The book will be useful for the policymakers, regulators, rural electricity service providers, financial institutions, academicians, students and civil society organisations interested in rural electricity.

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The Indian economy clearly seems to have followed a higher growth trajectory with over 9 per cent growth in GDP for the fiscal year 2006-07. Despite some improvements, the performance of agriculture sector, however, continues to be the cause of concern. The dream of inclusive growth cannot be realised without revival of sagging agriculture sector. A number of challenges are being encountered in the sector. Some of these challenges are: (i) increasing number of small and marginal farmers; (ii) increased competition due to globalisation process; (iii) reduced capital formation; (iv) poor infrastructure; and (v) decline of State support to agriculture. Thus, in present context governance and strengthening of institutional mechanisms to revive agriculture growth is of paramount need.

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Participatory Monitoring and Learning (PM&L) is a process of collaborative review and problem solving, through the generation and use of information on a regular basis throughout the project cycle. It is a process that leads to corrective action or improvement within the project, based on the shared decision-making of a number of stakeholders.

Action for Social Advancement (ASA) launched a pilot initiative that experimented with the Participatory Monitoring and Learning (PM&L) approach, within three World Bank assisted rural development projects in Madhya Pradesh, India—the District Poverty Initiative Project (MP-DPIP), Rural Women’s Empowerment Project (Swashakti) and MP Forestry Project.

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Recent progress in molecular biology and biotechnology is impacting the life sciences as well as the lives of people in unprecedented ways. Plant genetic transformation and molecular marker technologies have led to a paradigm shift in plant genetic resource management and crop improvement. Granting patent protection to genes has not only provided incentive for gene discovery and placed monetary value on germplasm resources, but also raised concerns about ownership and access to genetic resources. This book is an outcome of the presentations made during Dr. B.P. Pal Birth Centenary Symposium organized by the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), New Delhi, India, in February 2006. It begins with the commemorative lectures, which trace the evolution of approaches to the search for new genes in the last seven decades, since the seminal article written by Dr. B.P. Pal on the ‘Search for new genes’ in 1936. The book provides a comprehensive update of the modern biotechnological options for biodiversity management, gene prospecting, development of ‘designer crops’ and bioremediation. The power of molecular genetics in dissection of complex biological processes, and the potential utility of the knowledge that links genes to metabolic pathways and phenotypes for plant i