-Down to Earth As India elects new government, the 12th Five Year Plan may no longer be pro-poor MUCH hope is pinned on the 12th Five Year Plan that was declared as the first health Plan by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, while drafting the Plan, also termed it "pro-poor" and promised the maximum budget for social welfare schemes. But as the Plan comes into force this...
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Homeless survey on cards in capital -Ambika Pandit
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The state government is all set to launch a first-of-its-kind citywide survey of the capital's homeless population. The month-long exercise is set to culminate in an action plan to provide need-based access to shelters to this marginalized category of people. As of now, the estimates of homeless population in Delhi range from anywhere between 60,000 and over 1 lakh. There are 185 24x7 night shelters...
More »Forced labour 'making $150bn profit' - ILO report
-BBC Forced labour generates illegal profits of at least $150bn (£90bn; 110bn euros) a year, a study by the International Labour Organization (ILO) says. The profits are far higher than previous estimates and the ILO wants governments to tackle the problem. Some 21 million people worldwide are in forced labour, it says, with migrant workers most vulnerable. Over half of all forced labourers work in Asia, with 18% in Africa and almost 10% in...
More »Foodgrain output set to break record, cross 264 million tonnes-Jyotika Sood
-Down to Earth Advance estimates by agriculture ministry project 0.8 million tonnes increase in production over earlier estimate despite freak weather event The unseasonal rains and hail in March this year seem to have had little effect on overall crop production estimation. India is going to witness its highest foodgrain production of 264 milllion tonnes, according to the third advance estimates for 2013-14, released by the Union agriculture ministry on Friday. It...
More »Conflict of interest in setting norms for pharmaceuticals in WHO -Rema Nagarajan
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The World Health Organisation's (WHO) work of setting up norms and standards for production of medicines seems to be flawed by a fundamental conflict of interest. At the heart of its standard setting work is an entity the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) in which majority of the WHO member countries have no voting rights and which is dominated by pharmaceutical industry groups. This glaring...
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