-The Hindu The Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana was introduced to provide partial wage compensation during pregnancy, but various issues plague its implementation The latest official figures indicate that India is well short of meeting the Millennium Development Goals that pledged to reduce the country's maternal mortality ratio (MMR) by three quarters and the infant mortality rate (IMR) by two-thirds. The Sample Registration System (SRS), 2013, records MMR at 167 per 1,00,000...

-Down to Earth Fair price shop dealers to get incentive for use of point of sale (PoS) devices The Centre has decided to share up to 50 per cent of the intra-state transportation and handling costs of foodgrains with states under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013. NFSA guarantees cheap foodgrains to two-thirds of the Indian population. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday...

Those who compare India with China on equal basis, could be left with egg on their face if the new Global Food Policy Report 2014-15 is to be read and believed. The recent report from International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) shows why India is still faring much worse as compared to its neighbours including China, in the areas of agriculture and food security. In 2012, China spent close to...

-Economic and Political Weekly While the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act 2001 is a progressive piece of legislation that recognises farmers' rights to seed, it demands payment of an annual maintenance fee by the farmers to protect the varieties which they have been cultivating and conserving for years, only because these varieties have been brought under legal protection through national legislation. Parameswaran Prajeesh (prajeesh@mssrf.res.in) is a researcher with the...

-Business Standard Though Indian agriculture has grown to be second largest globally, there are many myths and misconceptions. So, let's find the truth. Though the government over the past few years has been focusing on enhancing manufacturing sector's share to India's GDP, contribution of agriculture to the GDP continues to be higher than that of the manufacturing. India has in abundant four critical fundamental resources - light, land, water & labour. Contrary...