Recommends guidelines to be issued by Tribal Affairs Ministry The National Advisory Council (NAC) has drawn up detaiLED operational guidelines, which it has recommended that the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry issue to the States for strengthening the Forest Rights Act (FRA). These guidelines can be issued under Section 12 of the FRA. One, the gram sabhas that are calLED for enquiry and verification of claims should be convened at the level of...

Is the chemical fertilizer-based food production system sustainable? As a result, what happens to the soil and the larger issue of food security? After a raging debate, the government finally decided to hike the chemical fertilizer subsidy, to catch up with spiralling fertilizer prices in the global market. Also, there is talk about bringing urea under the Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) system and decontrolling its prices. Obviously, the fertilizer industry...

Adolescent girls face nutritional problems than boys of that age: report Having more than 243 million adolescents – the highest in the world – the key challenge that India faces is ensuring the nutritional, health and educational needs of this population, particularly girls. Over the past two decades, rapid economic growth – with real gross domestic product averaging 4.8 per cent between 1990 and 2009 – has lifted millions out of...

The wife of a top PSU boss has been caught collecting bribe in gold bricks, the CBI said today, the charge suggesting that the corrupt remain as audacious as ever in spite of the shakedown in high places. Abhay Kumar Srivastava, the chairman and managing director of Navratna PSU Nalco, and his wife Chandni have been arrested. The CBI said Chandni took three 24-carat gold bricks weighing a kg each in...

It’s not just the fibre and vitamins; wholegrain brown rice has a compound that may protect you from high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. Replacing that familiar mound of white on your plate with a brown variety may do a world of good to your heart. Nutritionists have known for a while that brown rice is healthier, and been exhorting rice eaters to choose the wholegrain brown type instead of...