In the backdrop of climate change and other environmental challenges, Kerala announced a Rs 1000-crore 'Green Fund' for the next five years while earmarking an initial provision of Rs 100 crore in the budget for 2010-11. State Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac, who presented the budget in the state assembly, said the fund would be utilized to take up projects to preserve natural assets like forests and promote green...

Conventional wisdom among many ecologists is that industrial-scale agriculture is the best way to produce lots of food while preserving biodiversity in the world's remaining tropical forests. But two University of Michigan researchers reject that idea and argue that small, family-owned farms may provide a better way to meet both goals. In many tropical zones around the world, small family farms can match or exceed the productivity of industrial-scale operations, according...

The UPA government is ready to launch its promised flagship scheme to streamline the delivery of programmes for women on March 8, after months of internal quibbling involving the President and the women and child development ministry. But the government has agreed to the launch only after whittling down the financial allocations for the scheme to less than 1 per cent of the amount sought by women and child development...

NAGPUR: Farmers in Maharashtra's Vidarbha region are hoping for a Rs 30,000 crore (Rs 300 billion) development package in Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's budget, only two days away. According to the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), in view of the neglect faced by the region since independence, it was high time the central government looks at Vidarbha seriously and announces a hefty development package. "The Maharashtra government has spent over...

The Central Vigilance Commission is examining all construction works related to Commonwealth Games following complaints alleging large scale corruption in purchases. Official sources said the Commission has asked all its vigilance officials posted with agencies concerned to "double check" the procedures involved in the procurment and other aspects of the projects. The decision comes following complaints alleging discrepancies in the work being undertaken by the civic agencies like Municipal Corporation of...