-The Hindu     In spite of the rosy picture painted by the World Bank, the prospect of eliminating extreme poverty remains distant In a protracted period of gloom and persistent recession with feeble signs of recovery in a large part of the developed world, the World Bank, Brookings Institution and others can be forgiven for their euphoria over the accomplishment of a key Millennium Development Goal (MDG) - of halving extreme poverty in...

-The Economic Times MUMBAI: The United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), widely considered the world's most stringent regulatory authority, has said India's share in generic exports to the US over the years is an indication of the good manufacturing norms practised by Indian drugmakers. As the Ranbaxy scandal threatens to tarnish India's image as a hub of manufacturing world-class generic drugs, the statement, by USFDA's spokesman Chris Kelly in an...

-The Hindu Switching to renewable energy sources in the country's midday meal programme will save millions of rupees. But only a few kitchens are doing anything about it, says the author. This is a story of facts and figures and sheer size. Of an auditorium-sized room dense with hot steam from cooking. Of seven tonnes of cooked rice and four tanker-loads of steaming sambar that needed 70 pairs of hands for cutting...

-The Economic Times India's GDP growth has almost halved from 9.2% in 2010-11 to 5% in 2012-12. Major problems include a high current account deficit, high fiscal deficit, and lack of bank credit for small and medium enterprises. All three problems can be mitigated substantially by one single measure - reducing excess food stocks. So say Ashok Gulati and Surabhi Jain, chairman and joint director respectively of the Commission for Agricultural...

-The Hindu State officials are apprehensive of targeted coverage and allocations Chennai: The National Food Security Bill, which is again in news these days, may be generating much excitement in most parts of the country, but not in Tamil Nadu. The reason: a more comprehensive model in the form of universal public distribution system is in place. Successive State governments in Tamil Nadu have held that the coverage of the PDS should be...