Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia did a U-turn on the highly controversial Rs 32 per day poverty line, informing Prime Minister and plan panel chairman Manmohan Singh that caps on number of beneficiaries of schemes with central subsidies will be done away with. The about-turn comes after Ahluwalia's earlier letter to attorney general Goolam E Vahanvati in October defending the "artificial" cap Planning Commission imposes on beneficiaries of various...

An unprecedented economic growth during the last decade has also seen increasing malnutrition, hunger and starvation amongst certain sections of society. India ranks 66 in the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO’s) World Hunger Index of 88 countries (Inter-national Food Policy Research Institute). More than 200 million people in this country are denied the right to food. One-third of all underweight children (57 million) in the world due to lack of...

When I met organic farmer John Fennessy, who has been cultivating his farm at Sulekunte, Bangalore, for the past three years, I felt I was learning a valuable lesson in life. Having sold some of the first produce from his four-acre farm ‘Hamsa' at the Flea Market recently held at Jaaga, a proud John shared some very insightful thoughts about life as an organic farmer .“I believe we must, as responsible...

Indian suppliers must be units with investment up to Rs 1.25 cr, says draft before cabinet. Multinational retailers such as Walmart, Tesco and Carrefour looking to open stores in the country may have to source almost a third of their merchandise from small Indian manufacturers as the government tries to make the opening of multi-brand retail to foreign players more politically palatable. The draft cabinet note for permitting 51 per cent foreign...

-The Telegraph The world is likely to get 10 times hotter in the next 90 years, a report released today by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said. The report links the rise in temperatures to the “high greenhouse gas emission scenario” caused by human activity. It says intense drought, heavy precipitation and intensity of tropical cyclones are also likely to increase. Titled “Special Report on managing the risks of extreme events...