Minister Krishna Tirath stresses the need for proper implementation of women and child development schemes The lowest-ever child sex ratio of 914 overshadowed an increase in the overall sex ratio, which is now 940 — the highest nationwide since Census 1971 and a shade lower than 1961 — as it reflects a continued preference for a male child. As per the provisional data of Census 2011 released here on Thursday, while...

Rise of 181 million in 10 years; decline in child sex ratio India's population has jumped to 1.21 billion, an increase of more than 181 million during 2001-11, according to provisional data of Census 2011 released on Thursday. Though the population is almost equal to the combined population of the U.S., Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Japan (1,214.3 million), the silver lining is that after 1911-21 the past decade (2001-11) witnessed the...

The Govt. had extended Rs.2-a-kg rice to all ration card holders The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed implementation of the Kerala Government's February 25 order extending its subsidised rice distribution scheme (at Rs.2 a kg) to all ration card holders in the State so as to benefit 40 lakh people. A Bench of Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice Cyriac Joseph rejected the State's submission that the extended scheme was now being implemented,...

Kerala has a long history of foodgrains deficit, especially in rice. For instance, deficit in rice has increased steadily in the State from 45 per cent to 85 per cent between 1957 and 2008. However, not enough attention has been paid to mitigate the food insecurity problem in the State in the context where there has been a large scale decline in the area and production of paddy. This paper...

The cultivable land in India has shrunk marginally by 0.43% to 182.39 million hectare in last five years. This is due to shift in area for non-agricultural purposes such as buildings, road and railways among others. The total agricultural land in 2003-04 was 183.19 million hectares against 182.39 million hectare in 2008-09, a fall of 0.80 million hectare, according to the government data. Major foodgrains producing states like Punjab, West Bengal, Bihar and...