-The Times of India CHANDIGARH: Fear of another attack of whitefly pest, which ravaged huge tracts of cotton last year in Punjab, has led to biggest drop in area under cotton cultivation in Punjab in more than six decades. Data from Union agriculture ministry's department of economics and statistics (DES) shows that area under cotton crop this season has shrunk to 2.56 lakh hectares in the state, the lowest since 1955-56....
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Panchayati Raj Ministry: A downgrade for democracy -Mani Shankar Aiyar
-The Hindu Confining it to just the Ministry of Rural Development would be the most retrograde step in democratic decentralisation in over a quarter century. If, as The Hindu’s exclusive on Wednesday indicates, Prime Minister Narendra Modi were to close down the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, it would confirm one’s worst fears about his government’s hypocritical approach to grass-roots democracy for grass-roots development. This was a lacuna that was evident in the ‘Gujarat...
More »Why Rains Do Not End Drought And What The Government Needs To Do Urgently -Betwa Sharma
-Huffington Post NEW DELHI: It is still not certain whether the monsoons will be as "good" this year as early forecasts suggest, but at least the rains are here and are making their way across India, bringing long-awaited and direly needed succor to millions in 13 drought-ravaged states. It comes as a Massive relief that people in the worst-hit areas will have water to drink and so will their animals who...
More »How India travels -Dipti Jain and Sachin P Mampatta
-Livemint.com Bus most common mode of transport; more people stay with friends and relatives, shows NSSO data If you travel by air or stay in hotels during your domestic jaunts, you are not a typical Indian tourist. The bus is the most common mode of transport and more people stay with friends and relatives during such trips than in hotels and guest houses, according to a National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO)...
More »Parched Panchayati Raj Ministry on verge of closure -Mehboob Jeelani
-The Hindu It has become irrelevant after the crippling budget cuts After facing a Massive budget cut last year, the future of the Panchayati Raj Ministry continues to look bleak. After the BJP government shuttered two of its key programmes — the Backward Regions Grants Fund (BRGF) and the Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Sashaktikaran Abhiyan (RGPSA) — several officials at the Ministry feel it would soon be closed down and turned into a...
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