-Live Mint Rural livelihoods have improved because of MGNREGA. It is wrong to say the scheme has not worked If some recent news articles are to be believed, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), a scheme that costs less than 0.35% of India's gross domestic product (GDP), has crashed the country's economy. The latest to join this bandwagon of criticism is an editorial in Mint. ("MGNREGA: A tale...

-The Telegraph Patna: Farmers Kalpana Prakash and Zahid Khan would share the dais with the President and the chief minister at Delhi's Vigyan Bhavan on Monday when Bihar receives the Krishi Karman award for commendable production of wheat in 2012-2013 despite drought. The occasion would provide Nitish Kumar an opportunity to showcase his government's five-year agriculture roadmap (2012-17), which President Pranab Muherjee had inaugurated in October 2012 amid much fanfare. Thirty-two-year-old Kalpana, a...

-The Telegraph Nagpur: The cabbage and cauliflower came to fruition today; the sunflower, the chrysanthemum, the mustard and the coriander flowered through last week, one by one. It was timed that way - to mark a revival and, possibly, a retirement. When India's biggest carnival of farmers was opened today after a gap of over half a century, there was also a feeling that perhaps a spectacular farewell was being given to Sharad...

-Down to Earth Report lacks region specific-information; methodology used is questionable, say experts in India A recent World Bank report recommending reduction of common pollutants like soot or black carbon and methane in the Himalayan region to slow global warming has drawn severe criticism from Indian scientists. Reducing emissions of black carbon and methane can not only save lives by reducing air pollutants in atmosphere but also bring down ice melt which is...

-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...