-Express News Service More than 80,000 street children in the state’s urban areas are not going to school and around 25,000 of them are from Ahmedabad, according to a survey conducted by the state government for the implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act. Gujarat primary education secretary R P Gupta, when contacted, said, “Recently as a part of the implementation of the RTE Act in the state, the Sarva Shiksha...

In a major boost to Gujarat's big farmers, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) of the Government of India has approved commercial distribution of a new variety of Bt Cotton seed, developed jointly by US multinational Monsanto, Gujarat Seed Supply Corporation (GSSC) and Navsari Agricultural University. The new seed is expected to raise cotton productivity by up to 30 per cent as against the current Bt Cotton yield of 11...

There is a rush to cash in on micronutrient deficiency in India through fortification of food Andhra Pradesh Foods, a state government enterprise, is ramping up its fortified food production capacity. It provides ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook foods like upma mix, sweet porridge and khichdi mix, fortified with iron, zinc and other vitamins, to infants and pregnant and lactating women under the Centre’s Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS). The effort to double its...

-PTI Assam government has prepared a draft proposal to revise minimum wages for workers and employees engaged under NREGA under the relevant provisions of Minimum Wages Act, 1948. The minimum rates of wages fixed for different categories are Rs 208 per day for skilled work/clerical work and Rs 150 per day for semi-skilled/unskilled supervisory work, said an official release here today. A minumum rate of Rs 130 per day was proposed...

-Eastern Panorama   It’s been almost two months since a 6.9 magnitude earthquake left the Himalayan state of Sikkim devastated. Nine families of Ralak village in Tingchim Mangshilla Gram Panchayat in the North District of Sikkim are still living in make shift relief camps with the mothers cuddling their children under blankets to give them comfort and warmth in the cold November nights. As snow has already covered the mountains visible from...