-Hindustan Times A report on sugar price policy for 2015-16 by union agriculture ministry had highlighted that Maharashtra’s sugarcane cultivation, which is less than 4% of the total cropped area, consumes 70% of water needed for irrigation Following criticism over sugarcane crop guzzling potable water, particularly in drought-prone Marathwada, the state government is set to introduce a policy for shifting 50% of sugarcane farming on drip irrigation in the next two years. Statistics...
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The 'public' in public health -Vani S Kulkarni
-The Hindu The discourse must move beyond a top-down approach to listen to the people and formulate best insurance practices Much ink has been spilled in documenting the inadequacy of budgetary allocations for public health insurance, specifically for the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), the world’s largest publicly-funded health insurance (PFHI) scheme. Though the 2017-18 budget allocation has marginally increased from last year’s revised estimates, it has declined relative to last year’s...
More »New WPI series suggests higher core inflation rate in past 6 months: CRISIL
-Business Standard WPI inflation for April is at 3.9%, which is 144 (bps) lower than the March inflation rate The Ministry of Commerce and Industry unveiled the revised wholesale price index (WPI) on May 12, 2017 as per the 2011-12 base year. As per this release, WPI inflation for April is at 3.9%, which is 144 basis points (bps) lower than the March inflation rate. The decline is mainly due to a...
More »GM Mustard could open door for 100-odd crops in pipeline -Sanjeeb Mukherjee
-Business Standard Activists, others question yield and bio-safety data; GM mustard can improve yields by 25-30% After many ifs and buts, the commercial release of genetically modified (GM) mustard seems to have reached a decisive phase after the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) recommended on Thursday that it be allowed. The ministry of environment and forests will now decide on whether this herbicide-tolerant variety can become the first GM food crop to be...
More »Sexual violence against women in riots and other mass crimes is being 'normalised' -Syeda Hameed and Salina Wilson
-Hindustan Times We live in a social regime where women are seen as an embodiment of men’s izzat (honour). Attacking ‘their women’ then becomes the undoing of the whole community. Bilkis Bano. The name and the face have been haunting me since the judgment was announced on her case by the Bombay High Court on May 4. In March 2002, our group of six women arrived in Ahmedabad to document what had...
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