-IPS News MALKANGIRI (Odisha)- Scattered across 31 remote hilltop villages on a mountain range that towers 1,500 to 4,000 feet above sea level, in the Malkangiri district of India's eastern Odisha state, the Upper Bonda people are considered one of this country's most ancient tribes, having barely altered their lifestyle in over a thousand years. Resistant to contact with the outside world and fiercely skeptical of modern development, this community of under...

-The Indian Express The scheme should be refocused towards creating durable assets in agriculture. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has a significant influence on agricultural operations and cultivation costs. If its present focus on community works can be reoriented to proactively promote improvements on the landholdings of small and marginal farmers through the creation of durable assets, it will be beneficial for agricultural productivity and incomes. Critics say that...

-The Times of India   Honey, they've shrunk the city. Recently released census data shows that between 2001 and 2011, population in Mumbai, Kolkata and two inner districts of Delhi declined, while in Hyderabad and Chennai only a small increase took place. But surrounding regions of these cities showed phenomenal growth indicating a shifting center of gravity in metropolises. Declining populations in some of the metropolises is notable though unsurprising. These cities are...

-The Hindu Business Line     A set of technologies that deals with production and marketing constraints can work wonders Indian agriculture faces herculean challenges today; yet, the near- and the medium-term outlook on agriculture and agri-businesses seem bright. Growing urbanisation and changing food habits, malnutrition plus declining areas under foodgrain pose a big threat to food security. Agriculture and food production are strongly influenced by international trade, credit availability, development co-operation, climate change and environmental...

-The Pioneer   Bhubaneswar: Home is an integral part of life and determinant of standard of living and progress of society. Rural Odisha witnesses a very poor standard of habitation and lack of proper housing for lakhs of poor people who are dreaming of a house of their own to live with dignity. Socio-cultural barriers, landlessness and lack of credit for housing are some of the major reasons which deprive rural poor of...