-PTI   The expert group headed by the former PMEAC Chairman estimated that the number of poor in India was much higher in 2011-12 at 29.5 % of the population Defending his calculation that three out of 10 in India are poor, former PMEAC Chairman C Rangarajan on Monday said poverty numbers provided by him are not conservative estimates and they are at par with global standards. The expert group headed by Dr. Rangarajan...

-The Indian Express Goa, with just 6.3% of its population under the poverty line, tops the list: Panel. Nearly half of Chhattisgarh's population has been estimated to be below the poverty line, according to the new definition of poverty. In contrast, Goa, with just 6.3 per cent of its residents under the poverty line, tops the list of states with the lowest poverty count. The findings are a part of the new poverty estimates...

-The Hindu Business Line     Facing criticism for rising prices, the Modi Government has blamed public expenditure on schemes such as MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) for fuelling food inflation. Curiously, the BJP wants the job scheme to continue, with the focus mainly on agriculture. According to the agenda note circulated for Friday's Conference of State Food Ministers with the Centre, food inflation is caused by both demand and supply...

-The Diplomat   Climate change is stressing an already struggling farm sector, but there is a way forward. Over the last decade, India's official position in global climate negotiations has been one of opposition to agricultural mitigation. At Doha (COP18), India joined other developing countries in demanding that any talk about agriculture must be in the realm of adaptation, not mitigation. India considers the farm sector out of bounds with respect to emissions...

-The Indian Express   Available data suggests the programme has been effective in reducing rural poverty and gender discrimination Nirmala Sitharaman's misinformation (‘How not to run a programme', IE, May 9) on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), which employs one in every four Indian rural households every year, is disappointing. Consider these facts. For the first time in over two decades, the increase in rural consumption (a proxy indicator...