-The Economic Times Nothing can be more ironic than to have food inflation at 18% (August 2013 over last August) in a country that takes pride in enacting the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and bestowing "the right to food" to 67% of its population by promising 5 kg cereals per capita per month (pcpm) at highly subsidised rates. Given that cereals consumption is 10.7 kg pcpm, people will have to face...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Thanks to Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan and Anganwadi system, more and more village girls are going to school -Abheek Barman
-The Economic Times As elections approach and the campaign gets shriller, the UPA and opposition parties are in the market for talking points to pin each other down. The BJP gloats that it created more jobs in its five years than UPA-I managed to create between 2004 and 2009. This is correct: between 1999-2000 and 2004-05 when the BJP was in power, the total number of jobs went up by a little...
More »India's food security act: Myths and reality-Vandana Shiva
-Al Jazeera The reforms promoted by Prime Minister Singh do not go far enough to help food production and the hungry. The debate on the Food Security Act is based on myths on both sides. The government is propagating the myth that it is the largest anti-poverty and anti-hunger programme ever introduced anywhere in the world. The programme is being heralded as Sonia Gandhi's dream project, and billed as a miracle solution...
More »At last, a Bill to control unethical practices in biomedical, health research-Aarti Dhar
-The Hindu Every biomedical and health research involving human participants, whether in conventional areas, or in new evolving specialised fields, will have to be conducted in accordance with the provisions of the proposed Biomedical and Health Research Regulation Bill, 2013. Research on human subjects in the specified areas like assisted reproductive Technology (ART); organ, tissue and cell therapy; genetic and genomic studies including techniques of genetic engineering and gene therapy; nano medicines;...
More »Aadhaar let down: SC observations on UID may be unwarranted, but a flippant government approach hasn't helped
-The Times of India Aadhaar, the 12-digit unique identification number issued to individuals, is an ambitious attempt to marry advances in Technology to governance. If Aadhaar works, the state's capacity to deliver public services efficiently will increase significantly. Today, however, its efficacy stands undermined on account of the flippant attitude of the Centre and the Supreme Court's decision to venture into an area that is best left to the government. A Supreme...
More »