KEY TRENDS   • During 2014-15, while procurement of foodgrains (rice and wheat) increased from 56.9 million tonnes to 60.2 million tonnes, offtake of foodgrains (rice and wheat) from the PDS decreased from 59.8 million tonnes to 55.9 million tonnes. Despite increased availability in the PDS and prevalence of high inflation in foodgrains, dependence on the PDS is reducing, suggesting that there may be issues of availability, timely availability and quality of the PDS foodgrains...

  Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)  In order to address the problems of poverty, inequality and climate change, world leaders gathered at the United Nations in New York on 25 September, 2015 to adopt the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. As per the United Nations Development Programme  India website (please click here to access), the 2030 Agenda that comprises 17  new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is expected to guide policy and funding for the next 15...

-The Telegraph Statistician fears 2021 Census resistance Calcutta: The 2021 Census could be in jeopardy because enumerators will face resistance while collecting information in the wake of the CAA-NRC-NPR protests, a former chief statistician of India said on Saturday. The house-listing work that precedes the Census is scheduled to begin from April and it could be the first casualty of this fear. That in turn can severely compromise the Census, Pronab Sen, who...