-Down to Earth Only 15 states procure rice, 8 procure wheat as part of decentralised distribution scheme  Only 23 states have implemented the Decentralized Procurement Scheme (DCP) so far — 15 to procure rice and eight to procure wheat — despite the scheme being in place for 23 years.   This was flagged by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (Standing Committee) in a realease dated August 13,...

-The Hindu The channels of communication between scientists and society remain limited Indian scientists engaged in science, contributing to the understanding of the natural world and developing approaches and technologies to measure or change outcomes well before the Scientific Revolution that began in Europe in 1543. Whether it was the more than two millennia-old Charaka Samhita or the Jantar Mantars of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, science and technologywere embedded in the...

-The Hindu West Bengal tops the list with 964 fatalities caused by flash floods, landslides Nearly 6,800 people lost their lives in the country over the past three years due to hydro meteorological calamities such as flash floods, landslides and cyclones and West Bengal has recorded the highest deaths among all States, The details were provided by the Home Ministry in response to a question by Congress MP from Tamil Nadu, Su. Thirunavukkarasar,...

-Newsclick.in As India celebrates its 75th Independence Day, there is a record harvest of foodgrains; but why are so many people hungry? India has reaped an all-time high food grain harvest for 2020-21 of nearly 309 million tonnes (MT), or nearly 31 crore tonnes, according to latest estimates by the agriculture ministry. This was propelled by record harvests of wheat (109.5 MT), rice (122.3 MT), nutri/coarse cereals (51.2 MT) and pulses (25.7...

-Down to Earth Farmers yet to be paid Rs 5,724 crore for claims made in 5 years since scheme launch The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (crop insurance scheme) may have benefitted some farmers but insurance companies surely made the most of it. In the five years since the scheme was launched, these companies received Rs 1,26,521 crore in premium payments and paid Rs 87,320 crore to farmers in loss claims — a...