-Economic and Political Weekly A survey to identify who the poor are and how many are actually poor is necessary if programmes and benefits targeted at the needy are to reach them. The Socio Economic Caste Census, of which partial results have been published, was intended to do this. Yet, even a cursory look at the figures indicates that they call for a willing suspension of disbelief. N C Saxena (naresh.saxena@gmail.com) was...
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Indian Metereologists Can't Figure Why Monsoon Is Defying El Nino -Jacob Koshy
-Huffington Post NEW DELHI - A searing El Nino was to have sucked the rains out of India, but meteorologists here can't explain why is it raining so much. Rains in north-west India are, as of 21st July, eight percent more than what the region usually gets between June 1 --the onset of the monsoon--and late July. Moreover the latest forecast from both state and private meteorologists is that beginning this week,...
More »Tribal Priestesses Become Guardians of Seeds in Eastern India -Manipadma Jena
-IPS News NIYAMGIRI: As the rhythmic thumping of dancing feet reaches a crescendo, the women offer a song to their forest god for a bountiful harvest. Then, with earthen pots on their heads and their spiritual creatures – a pigeon and a hen – in tow, they proceed in single file on a long march away from their village of Kadaraguma, located on the Niyamgiri mountain range in the Rayagada District of...
More »Meet waterman cop of Bundelkhand -Arindam Ghosh
-The Times of India JHANSI: Meet 'waterman cop' Mahendraa Modi, an additional director general of police, who was instrumental in cracking some very serious cases. But it is not his investigation acumen that made him famous. His passion for water conservation makes him different from other cops. Modi's efforts have brought a new ray of hope for the parched land of Bundelkhand. Taking the issue of water conservation seriously, he has created...
More »Small sweet success -Kumar Sambhav Shrivastava
-Down to Earth Srihari kurade proudly walks through his orchard of kokum (Garciniaindica), a wild fruit that is famous for its therapeutic properties. With more than 2,400 trees spread over seven hectares (ha) of land, his orchard in South Goa is the world’s largest kokum plantation. Kurade is also perhaps the only farmer in the region to have taken up systematic large-scale plantation of the fruit that is endemic to the...
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