Delhi's air is not fit to inhale. Experts argue that prolonged exposure to toxic air could lead to serious health hazards like heart and lung diseases, various types of cancer etc. But is it the case that the smog, which engulfed the entire National Capital Region (NCR) and many of the north Indian cities during October-November was entirely caused due to burning of firecrackers in Diwali or because of vehicular...

-Business Standard Chhattisgarh is traditionally known as the Rice Bowl of India as over 20,000 rice varieties have been found here Raipur: Chhattisgarh has discovered a new variety of rice that is light green in colour.   Though the development is at an early stage, scientists in the state have started scientific study of the variety. Only after conducting a detailed research, the scientists will come out with the character of the seed.   “The seed...

-The Indian Express Agriculture’s contribution to poverty reduction is five times more than that of metropolitan centres Speaking at the third BRICS Urbanisation Forum in Visakhapatnam on September 14, Deputy Chairman of the Niti Ayog, Arvind Panagariya, announced that “Without cities we can’t grow rapidly”. He added, “urbanisation plays an important role in poverty alleviation”. Both claims are exaggerated and somewhat misleading. A recent report prepared for the UN points out that, over...

-The Hindu Business Line An Odisha organisation is working hard to preserve traditional foods and prevent the mainstream from swallowing up local knowledge systems Inside a candy pink-and-yellow shamiana, a group of children in blue uniforms line up in front of stalls heaving with different kinds of foods. Tubers in shades of brown, beige and cream; pink and red berries; tiny yellow, orange and red tomatoes; leaves of many sizes and shapes;...

-The Indian Express The flagship rural jobs programme has shown improved performance after initial neglect by the Modi government. New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government may spend close to Rs 60,000 crore on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in the current fiscal, a record for the programme that was a baby of the previous United Progressive Alliance regime. The Union Budget had allocated Rs 38,500 crore towards MGNREGA for...