The word ‘hunger’ does not appear in the 12th Plan Approach Paper even once, whereas according to the latest Global Hunger Index Report, India continues to be in the category of those nations where hunger is ‘alarming’. What is worse, India is one of the three countries where the hunger index between 1996 and 2011 has gone up from 22.9 to 23.7, while 78 out of the 81 developing countries...
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Six years of RTI: Time for the government now to bravely abide by the Act, not tame it by Vinita Deshmukh
Six years of RTI’s existence has empowered the Indian citizen as a proactive partner in governance like never before since Independence. But the government has not been able to digest it, ever since its implementation. Instead of trying to dilute or scuttle the Act, it’s time the government abides by Section (4) norms of ‘suo motu’ disclosure Apart from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whose innocence and ‘clean image’ stands exposed thanks...
More »Minimum support price on food items up, may fan inflation
-The Times of India Ahead of elections in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, the government on Tuesday announced an increase of up to 39% in the support price for farm goods in what is being billed as a Diwali gift for farmers. But the move has raised fears of a further spike in food inflation, which crossed the 10% mark last week. While the smallest increase was in case of wheat, where the...
More »Major changes in Food Security Bill on the anvil, says Thomas by C Gouridasan Nair
The much-awaited National Food Security Bill will be introduced in the winter session of Parliament incorporating some major changes recommended by the National Advisory Council, chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution K.V. Thomas told The Hindu on Sunday that the council proposed coverage of the food security scheme from the present 45 per cent to an estimated 63 per cent...
More »India may produce record over 86 mn tonnes of wheat: Sharad Pawar
-PTI Wheat production is expected to cross 86 million tonnes to set a new record in the ongoing 2011-12 crop year, boosted by a good monsoon and a likely rise in support prices, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said today. Wheat production in India, the world's second-largest producer, stood at a record 85.93 million tonnes in the 2010-11 crop year (July-June). Wheat is only grown in the rabi season (winter). "Indications are that rabi...
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