Conservation measures have taken away the traditional livelihoods of nomadic tribes in Karnataka. AT a short distance from the world famous monuments at Hampi is the village of Hulihaidar in the fertile region of the “rice bowl of Karnataka” in Gangavathi taluk in Koppal district. Local residents say it was an important town in the Vijayanagara empire (1336-1646 C.E.) and the seat of a local lord. Today it is home to...

Cash transfers are now suggested by many as a silver bullet for addressing the problems that plague India’s anti-poverty programmes. This article argues instead for evidence-based policy and informed public debate to clarify the place, prospects and problems of cash transfers in India. By drawing on key empirical findings from academic and grey literature across the world an attempt is made to draw attention to three aspects of cash transfers...

The Planning Commission has approved the annual plan of Rs 42000 crore for the Uttar Pradesh for the year 2010-11. However this could not satisfy the state government as it has alleged that in comparison with the other states the Central Government was not providing expected share to Uttar Pradesh in centrally aided schemes and projects. A high level delegation headed by the Chief Secretary Atul Kumar Gupta held deliberations...

The Centre has released Rs. 370.91 crore as its share to Nagaland till February during the fiscal 2009—10 and the state government contributed Rs. 15.53 crore for implementation of flagship programme NREGA for creating 100-day employment for rural poor. According to the latest annual administrative report of the RD department, till February 3, 21,141 households have been issued job cards under the Act which was being implemented in all 11...

Jharkhand has decided to seriously monitor deaths of mothers, during child delivery or as a result of extraneous circumstances, having woken up to its dismal health record that is nowhere near the UN’s millennium goals. Jharkhand’s maternal mortality rate or MMR — the number of maternal deaths per one lakh live births in a year — stands at 371, while the national average is 312. But as a signatory to...