-Down to Earth High-level committee report was submitted to the Prime Minister's Office in May 2014, and includes radical recommendations Tribal communities have historically faced the brunt of the state's development agenda. It seems the attitude of the government towards the tribal communities has changed little over the years. A report of the current status of tribal communities, submitted to the Prime Minister's Office in May 2014, has been kept under wraps with...

-The Hindustan Times Despite constitutional protection, positive discrimination policies and earmarked budgets, India's 104 million tribal people remain among the poorest and most nutritionally deprived social groups. In 2005-06, 54% of tribal children under five years of age were stunted, which is a measure of chronic undernutrition; this is well above the national average of 48%. Studies carried out between 2006 and 2013 in different states reveal that the percentage of...

-The Hindu Chandigarh (Punjab): Contrary to opinion articulated through various quarters, empirical evidence and various studies have shown that the agronomic practices since the Green Revolution, especially dependence on the wheat-paddy cycle, had only improved the soil fertility in Punjab, where cropping intensity has reached 190 per cent. A reduction in fertilizer consumption notwithstanding, soil properties, presence of micro-nutrients and yields of crops have seen major improvement. While, noted economist, H.S. Shergill,...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Rural development minister Chaudhary Birender Singh today held a meeting with senior officials amid indications that the ministry is planning an ordinance to amend the year-old land acquisition law which industry has opposed. Among those who attended the two-hour meeting was Vandana Kumari Jena, secretary, department of land resources. Sources said the rural development ministry was under pressure from the finance and infrastructure ministries to amend the Right to...

-The Hindu However, the data says the implications are unclear Per capita calorie intake in India grew marginally for the first time in 30 years, new official data shows, and protein intake grew for the first time in over a decade. The National Sample Survey Office's (NSSO) 2011-12 data on Nutritional Intake was released earlier this week. The data shows that per capita calorie consumption rose to 2099 kilocalories per day in rural...