Is India’s brand new Seed Bill capable of protecting the farmers' livelihoods? Or will it compromise their interest by allowing multinational seed companies to have a free run of the Indian seed market? The new Bill seeks to regulate the seed market and improve the quality of seeds as well as to harmonise and update the old policies in line with the current international practices for production, supply and for...

With the increase in population and purchasing power of people, the per capita oil consumption too is rising steadily. The oil requirement in India is projected to be 18.3 million tonnes in 2015 and 21.8 million tonnes in 2020. To meet the demand, the current production of 29.75 million tonnes of oilseeds has to be doubled in the next 12 years to achieve self-sufficiency, said P. Murugesa Boopathi, Vice-Chancellor of Tamil...

In our 63rd year of Independence, the Right to Education Act comes into effect on April 1. On the eve of its launch, the Union education minister has balanced our perspective by another resolve. India’s enrolment rate for higher education is around 12 per cent. He would increase this to 30 per cent, in line with the advanced nations. There is only one snag. Unlike in advanced countries, one Indian in...

While more than 200 million slum dwellers worldwide have escaped their conditions in the past decade, the overall population of slums has swelled by nearly 60 million in the same period, a new United Nations report finds. Some 227 million people have moved out of slum conditions, largely due to slum upgrading, since 2000, more than double the target of improving the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers...

“Absolute number” increased to 827.6 million in 2010 over 10 years  Achievements of China, India spectacular Urban sprawl is symptom of a divided city Governments across the world have done well collectively to lift 227 million people out of slum conditions, surpassing the Millennium Development target by 2.2 times. The achievements of China and India in particular have been spectacular, commends the UN-HABITAT report on the ‘State of the World Cities 2010/2011:...