-The Hindustan Times New Delhi: As a headless Central Information Commission (CIC) controversially celebrates NINe years of the transparency law behind closed doors, there are indications that the CIC chief's absence has already dented the watchdog's autonomy. Being without a chief has placed the commission on a weak legal footing. According to documents accessed under the RTI law, the government has taken control over the CIC's purse strings and placed them in...
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Worrisome Trends in Agriculture -Sruthisagar Yamunan and Ajai Sreevatsan
-The Hindu Low output and land fragmentation are critical issues, says survey Tamil Nadu: The writing on the wall for Tamil Nadu in agriculture is pretty clear, though the State's grain production during 2013-14 was good. The latest Economic Appraisal of the government has shown that Tamil Nadu needs out-of-the-box policies to tackle agriculture production and its impact on food inflation. The State did well in 2013-14 to bounce back from a nightmare drought...
More »Dr. Mickey Chopra, global head of UNICEF’s health programmes interviewed by R Prasad
-The Hindu Dr. Mickey Chopra, global head of UNICEF's health programmes explained to R. Prasad why he was very encouraged by the efforts taken by the government to reduce child mortality, and how these efforts are paying off, especially in States like Bihar. * How is India doing as far as meeting the MDG 4 target is concerned? India is changing very quickly. We are seeing very encouraging signs... we are starting to...
More »Making MGNREGA deliver better -Rajiv Kumar
-The Financial Express The proposed MGNREGA changes can help plug the leakages and enhance agriculture productivity There is good news about the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee (MGNREGA) scheme. Recent press reports reveal that the rural development minister, Nitin Gadkari, has instructed lowering of the mandatory share for unskilled wages in total expenditure from the current 60% to 51%. He has also directed, quite rightly, that 50% of the expenditure be...
More »India reduces hunger, moves up 8 ranks in global index -Aditi Nigam
-The Hindu Business Line In a pat on the back for the erstwhile UPA Government's flagship programmes, the Global Hunger Index 2014 (GHI) has noted a significant improvement in the levels of hunger in India, especially among children, between 2005-06 and 2013-14. Overall, however, two billion people in the developing world are still under-nourished and suffer from ‘hidden hunger', with the situation "alarming" in 14 countries, even as the deadline for the...
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