-FAO MDG target to halve proportion of world's hungry still within reach by end of 2015  Rome: About 805 million people in the world, or one in nine, suffer from hunger, according to a new UN report released today. The State of Food Insecurity in the World (SOFI 2014) confirmed a positive trend which has seen the number of hungry people decline globally by more than 100 million over the last decade and...

-Down to Earth Working out the details and convergence with other programmes like rural job scheme will take time, say officials One of the ambitious schemes of new government of providing irrigation facility to all farms may not take off before financial year 2016-17. The programme, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayi Yojana (PMKSY), was announced in this year's budget and Rs 1,000 crore was allocated for it. This allocation may be further enhanced...

-The Hindu Omar Abdullah directs officials to mobilise boats in Srinagar New Delhi: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday proposed that boats should be mobilised to send medicines to the people of the flooded areas of Srinagar. These "floating clinics" can be used to deliver medicines, first aid and other supplies to those areas where floodwaters are yet to recede and boats are the only mode of access. After returning from his...

-The Hindustan Times Soon, motorists caught speeding, driving drunk or jumping red lights may not get away with a light fine and a few stern words from the traffic cop. The punishment would get harsher as the gravity of the offence increases - a Rs. 3-lakh fine and not less than seven years in jail for causing the death of a child; Rs. 5 lakh in penalty and three months in jail...

-The Indian Express The MGNREGS stands out as one of the Indian government's most ambitious social schemes, with far-reaching consequences throughout the economy. The only known recipe for poverty eradication is a combination of high growth and high development spending. Neither is sufficient. A recent study (Kapoor and Ahluwalia, 2012) has shown that post-liberalisation, one champion of poverty reduction in India is Andhra Pradesh. This reduction in poverty is widespread, as...