-Live Mint The scheme represents Rs.2.3 trillion spent on wasteful rural consumption This week marked the eighth anniversary of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's key rural intervention, launched in 200 districts initially in February 2006. To the extent that such populist schemes helped raise wages without raising productivity. They have contributed more to inflation than to rural wealth. Worse, such schemes have...
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A healthy alternative to white bread -BS Satish Kumar
-The Hindu UAS-B says its millet bread is ideal for diabetics Bangalore (Karnataka): There is some good news for those who are looking for a healthier option for bread made of refined wheat flour (maida). A team of nutritionists of the University of Agricultural Sciences-Bangalore has developed "non-junk" bread. This bread is made of nutrient-rich minor millets. Head of the university's Food Sciences and Nutrition Department H.B. Shivaleela, who was part of the research...
More »World has enough food for all, but it does not reach everyone -RK Pachauri
-The Hindustan Times The Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS), from February 6 to 8, is focusing on the theme ‘Attaining Energy, Water and Food Security for All'. The set of issues defining the importance of the theme can be gauged from an assessment of the situation that we are facing. There are 1.3 billion people who have no access to electricity, and over twice the number are dependent on the use...
More »DSDS 2014: Water, agriculture and nutritional security -Vijay Kumar
-IBN Agriculture and allied activities account for 14.1% of India's GDP in 2011-12 but the proportion of the people dependent for employment in this sector is as high as 58.2.The average annual growth rate of agriculture during the Eleventh Plan Period was about 3.6%. However, declining per capita availability of food grains is of major long term concern. For ensuring nutritional security, it is not only important to increase the per...
More »PM indicates change in Centre’s stand on GM crops -Vishwa Mohan
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In a remark which may cheer agriculture scientists and farmers across the country and signal a change in stance, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said the government should not succumb to "unscientific prejudices" against genetically modified (GM) crops. Responding to anti-GM activists who have been opposed to even scientific field trials of genetically engineered crops, Singh said his government remained committed "to promoting the use...
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