-The Hindu An odd job that was going to earn her some extra money happened to turn 23-year-old Aarthi Jaiswal into a voice for her neighbourhood in Jahangirpuri here. A few months ago she and a group of her friends were hired for Rs.150 per day to conduct a house-to-house survey asking for people’s opinion on the Delhi Government’s proposal to replace the public distribution system with direct cash transfers into...
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Jayalalithaa writes to PM over fertilizers-Sanjay Pinto
-NDTV Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa has shot off yet another letter to the Prime Minister. In her latest communication, the AIADMK Chief has flagged concerns of farmers in the State over the "introduction of the Nutrient Based Subsidy Scheme (NBS) by the Government of India from the 1st April, 2010, coupled with an unreliable supply of fertilizers" that she feels is "threatening to deprive our farmers of their basic means...
More »Complex system of patronage, corruption blunts India’s efforts to help the poor out of poverty-Minhaz Merchant
-The Economic Times The Rae Bareli seat in Uttar Pradesh has been a Gandhi family bastion since 1967 when Indira Gandhi first stood for election from there. Sonia Gandhi adopted the constituency in 2004 and was re-elected with a huge majority in 2009. It should, therefore, be one of India's most developed districts. Right? Wrong. The Hunger and Malnutrition, or HUNGaMA, survey, released by the Prime Minister earlier this year, was...
More »Maize should not be included in PDS-Tejinder Narang
The proposed National Food Security Bill (NFSB), under consideration of Standing Committee of Parliament, may be reviewed for procurement and distribution of maize or corn (under coarse grains scheme) at Rs 1 per kg to intended beneficiaries. Without going into the merits and demerits of ever-increasing subsidies under NFSB, corn for human consumption is highly vulnerable to impermissible limits of fungal toxicity — called “aflatoxins (B1, B2, G1, G2)”. There are...
More »Rio+20 Earth Summit: campaigners decry final document-Jonathan Watts and Liz Ford
-The Guardian 'Pathway for a sustainable future' declared, but Greenpeace says summit was failure of epic proportions Amid doubt, disappointment and division, the world's governments came together in Rio on Friday to declare "a pathway for a sustainable century". At the close of the Rio+20 Earth Summit, heads of state and ministers from more than 190 nations signed off on a plan to set global sustainable development goals and other measures to...
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