Funding agency for rural NGOs may be on its last legs IT IS a government agency that was set up specially to fund non-profits working on rural development. But of late the Council for People’s Action and Advancement of Rural Technology (CAPART) has been plagued by allegations of corruption and inefficiency. After a few failed attempts to reform CAPART, the government has now decided to overhaul the agency which has close...
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Bid to revive forests in Jammu and Kashmir by Peerzada Arshad Hamid
ZAVOORA, India (AlertNet) – Amid thousands of tree stumps stretching over almost 60 hectares (150 acres) of bare plateau, there are signs of life. Delicate saplings of kail and deodar conifers are growing between other newly planted deciduous trees. The woodland had been cut down illegally by loggers and encroached upon for farming. But forestry officials here in Shopian district, a two-hour drive south of Srinagar, the summer capital of India’s...
More »Rural poor in India better off than urban poor: Unicef
-The Hindustan Times Poor households of urban India are emerging hotspots for hunger and ill-health and children there live in worse conditions than in rural areas, says a new UN report released on Wednesday. The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) report -- state of the world’s children 2012 -- say that like most parts of the world, children living in around 49,000 slums in India are "invisible". Half of these slums are in...
More »Government taking fresh steps to build consensus on retail FDI, says Prime Minister
-The Economic Times Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday assured industry that the Centre is making renewed efforts to open up foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail, despite Uttar Pradesh (UP) election results where the winning Samajwadi Party has opposed FDI in retail in its manifesto. Singh told a delegate of senior members of industry body Assocham that the Centre is taking fresh efforts to evolve consensus amongst the various stakeholders on...
More »UIDAI Bill unlikely to be tabled in budget session by Devika Banerji
The Bill governing the unique identity project is unlikely to be introduced in the budget session of parliament, as the Planning Commission needs more time to finalise its revised version. The Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI) Bill, which aims to give legal status to the collection of biometric data and issue of unique identification numbers to all resident Indians, was rejected by a parliamentary committee last year. "There are many issues...
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