-Tribune News Service Notwithstanding the marginal decline in spendings under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) over the past two years, Himachal has the best performance indicators, putting it in the league of top-performing states. The total expenditure under the scheme came down from Rs 556.55 crore in 2009-10 to Rs 516.34 crore in 2010-11 and further fell to Rs 509.43 crore in the last financial year. However, the number...
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Rains damage wheat crop, delay harvest
-The Economic Times Rains in the last few days across the country excluding the southern peninsula have affected the standing wheat crop. Harvesting has already been delayed by a fortnight in Punjab, the wheat bowl of the country. State governments are advising farmers not to bring the moisture-laden wheat to market yards for sale. "At isolated places, there are instances of water-logging. It will not impact production with Harvesting at its peak...
More »Slum boy fights all odds to crack IIT entrance-Jayanta Gupta
Poverty could not rein in the spirit of this youth and hold him back from fighting his way through all odds. Unlike many youngsters in his neighbourhood who had resigned to fate, Monoranjan Bera worked hard to change his destiny. Bera has ranked 50th in the IIT entrance examination to a joint MSc-PhD programme. Bera, living in a single room tenement at Bhatapukur in Kharagpur, can serve as an example to youngsters. "One...
More »It's time water is optimally priced: PM-Gargi Parsai
The time has come for optimal pricing of water and power to prevent an unlimited pumping of groundwater and aid better coordination amongst competing demands for the scarce resource, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here on Tuesday. Dr. Singh's observations come at a time when there is a debate on the pricing of water and privatisation of services in the sector. The Ministry of Water Resources is working on a reforms-oriented...
More »Where are farm hands when you need them? by Devinder Sharma
MGNREGA is certainly a good idea. But it can’t be allowed to play havoc with farming operations by weaning away labourers during peak season RURAL DEVELOPMENT Minister Jairam Ramesh recently rubbished the need for freezing the flagship rural job scheme MGNREGA during peak agricultural season. Dismissing the possibility, Ramesh had said: “The matter has been examined by the Mihir Shah Committee and rejected.” Knowing that Mihir Shah’s entry into Planning Commission...
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