Once lauded as a model state for implementation of MGNREGA — the flagship programme of the UPA government — the state is on the backfoot nowadays as far as the scheme is concerned. Even as the Opposition BJP and the ruling Congress try to extract political mileage out of sarpanches agitation, at stake is the very scheme that has not only reduced the migration of labourers to other states but...

The Yamuna may be in spate near Delhi, states like Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Kerala and Tamil Nadu may be soaked wet and the Mithi river -- the lifeline of Mumbai -- could be flowing at the brim, but for people in the East and Northeast India the thirst for rain prolongs. They wait for the rain gods to smile upon them. Overall, this is one of the best monsoon India has...

To make the domestic coconut industry globally competitive, the Coconut Development Board has decided to impart technological training to farmers, processors, traders and exporters. To facilitate this, Union Minister of State for Agriculture K.V. Thomas will lay the foundation stone for a ‘farmers block' at the board's headquarters in Kochi on Septem ber 2, which is being observed as the World Coconut Day. The venue would serve as a centre for...

Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) has said it favoured contract farming of cotton, also called the Integrated Cultivation of Cotton (ICC). The 40th annual general body meeting of the CCI, which was held in Mumbai on August 27, felt that the cause of the ICC should be further pushed forward and farmers be convinced of it for better and effective results. CCI deputy general manager, SK Panigrahi, in a release said the...

The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)’s ambitious plan of issuing a unique biometric-enabled number, innocuously called ‘aadhaar’, to every Indian resident has finally begun to generate a debate on citizen-State relations, privacy, financial implications, and operational practicalities. What the debate has largely missed so far, however, is the credibility of the UIDAI’s claims in the field of social policy, particularly the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and Public Distribution...