South Asia in general and India in particular have the dubious distinction of standing out for wrong reasons every time a new global poverty report is released. We not only have the largest number of underweight children, a very high maternal mortality rate and the world’s highest number of out of school children but we also top the global malnutrition chart. (See links below for more details)  However the 2011 United...

While the Gujarat government may have announced a 'farmer-friendly' land acquisition policy developed by the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation's (GIDC), farmers have so far given mixed reactions to it. Right ahead of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit scheduled in January,GIDC has gone all out to ensure a hassle-free land acquisition process, as the upcoming meet is likely to generate demand for large tracts of land for industry.Saurabh Patel, state industries minister,...

Representatives from more than 60 countries gathered in Rome today for a United Nations-backed meeting to promote the international treaty considered essential for the conservation and use of the world’s threatened plant genetic resources.The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources was adopted by the Conference of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2001 to facilitate international cooperation and the fair exchange of genetic resources.The treaty’s Benefit-sharing Fund (BSF)...

The government is planning a complete overhaul of the way the power sector is financed and subsidies are delivered, attempting to address a funding shortfall delaying the construction of electricity projects and worsening a chronic power deficit that threatens to sap growth in India’s energy-hungry economy.This exercise is based on a report submitted by a panel headed by Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, to the power...

Global agriculture contributes in the region of 17 percent to the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, but according to the World Bank, climate smart agriculture techniques can both reduce emissions and meet the challenge of producing enough food for a growing world population."As much as agriculture is part of the problem, it is also part of the solution," said Inger Anderson, the World Bank's vice president on sustainable...