-Live Mint Rural livelihoods have improved because of MGNREGA. It is wrong to say the scheme has not worked If some recent news articles are to be believed, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), a scheme that costs less than 0.35% of India's gross domestic product (GDP), has crashed the country's economy. The latest to join this bandwagon of criticism is an editorial in Mint. ("MGNREGA: A tale...
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GDP estimates show worst may be over
-The Hindu Agriculture and allied sectors show improvement The Central Statistical Office (CSO) released on Friday estimates of 2013-14 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, pegging it at 4.9 per cent. In 2012-13, the economy grew at 4.5 per cent, the lowest in a decade. Since the growth during the April-September 2013 was 4.6 per cent, a full-year CSO estimate of 4.9 per cent implies that the economy is expected to grow at...
More »Defending people's milk in India
-Grain.org "We take care of the cow and the cow takes care of us," says Marayal, a farmer in Thalavady, Tamil Nadu. Her two cows produce 6 to 10 litres of milk a day, which she sells for 30-40 cents per litre. Across India, there are millions of backyard dairy farmers like Marayal. Each owning just one or two cows, these farmers supply millions more families and hundreds of thousands of informal...
More »Pan masala, gutka to cost more as govt raises duty
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Pan masala, gutka and several other tobacco products that are sold in pouches are set to get expensive as the government on Monday increased excise duty in a last-ditch effort to boost revenues. A statement issued by the finance ministry did not specify the extent of increase in excise but said the levy will now be linked to the capacity of production, which has increased due...
More »WTO has a point in objecting to India’s food security act -Ashok Kotwal, Milind Murugkar and Bharat Ramaswami
-The Hindustan Times Misunderstandings about the World Trade Organization (WTO) are pervasive. The media coverage of the recent WTO meetings at Bali has added to the confusion. The bone of contention was the government procurement of the food grains in India under the National Food Security Act. The final outcome is a stopgap arrangement that has bought the Indian government some time; most importantly, it does not have to undertake any...
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