The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has taken cognizance of the killing of MGNREGA activist Niyamat Ansari in Latehar district and requested authorities in India to probe his death as also the death threats issued to rights activist Bhukhan Singh. The UNHCR urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Union home minister P Chidambaram, Chief Justice S H Kapadia and chairman of the special investigation team, Supreme Court of India, R...
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Half of world’s poorest countries can escape poverty by 2020 – UN
Half the world’s 48 least developed countries (LDCs) can “graduate” out of their impoverished status within 10 years if they benefit from better targeted development aid, duty- and quota-free access for exports and doubled farm productivity and school enrolment, according to a United Nations report released today. This is considered a bold objective, given that altogether there have been 51 LDCs since the category was created by the UN in 1970,...
More »Have-nots know little, haves do little by Masoom Gupte & Shivani Shinde
Amid technical and infrastructural constraints, Maharashtra has rolled out 1.2 million Aadhaars, but the beneficiaries have been able to make little use of these numbers Ashok Bhil, a 25-year-old graduate from Navalpur, 7 Km from Tembhli, is disappointed with the way the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is rolling out Aadhaar in Maharashtra. Last September, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government chose Tembhli, a small village in the predominantly tribal Nandurbar...
More »Cotton output may rise to 40 mn bales in '11-12
Cotton production is expected to be 6.8 million tonnes (40 million bales of 170 kg each) in 2011-12 as soaring prices could spur the farmers to boost planting, according to a report. Cotton production stood at 33.9 million bales in 2010-11 crop year (July-June), as per the government's second advance estimate released in February. "The market expects the cotton output to reach a new high of 6.8 million tonnes (4 crore bales)...
More »Food Deficit in Kerala: Exploring the Possibility of NREGS by AD Manikandan
Kerala has a long history of foodgrains deficit, especially in rice. For instance, deficit in rice has increased steadily in the State from 45 per cent to 85 per cent between 1957 and 2008. However, not enough attention has been paid to mitigate the food insecurity problem in the State in the context where there has been a large scale decline in the area and production of paddy. This paper...
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