-The Hindu Business Line It provides infrastructure and a social safety net, but are there better ways of delivering both? The MGNREGA has been a subject of controversies from its inception. After much of the public dissension died down, the current government again stirred a hornet's nest by sending out what were perceived to be negative signals on this large public employment scheme. Not only has this raised political questions, it has...

-The Tribune Chief Minister pushes for crop diversification, says will provide farmers all help Chandigarh: Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said the state government would provide 50 per cent subsidy to farmers willing to rear cows for producing organic dairy products, besides setting up a board to sort out issues and requirements pertaining to organic farming. Addressing participants on the concluding day of the National Organic Farming Convention here, Badal said the...

-PTI Chandigarh: Punjab's farming sector has expressed disappointment over the Union Budget for not taking "pro-farmers" decision to provide much-needed fillip to the state's agriculture which has been suffering with "high" input cost and "lower" output prices. Even the farm experts have also expressed displeasure with the budget for not announcing any financial assistance to Punjab to promote crop diversification as state's wheat-paddy production has reached saturation point, besides taking a toll...

-PTI Chandigarh: Punjab government on Friday asked the Centre to reconsider its decision of stopping foodgrain procurement by FCI from Punjab, saying it will prove to be "very harmful" for the farming community and could lead to "distress selling". "The Centre's move of stopping procurement of foodgrain from states like Punjab could prove to be very harmful for state growers as they could be denied of appropriate prices of their crop (in...

-IPS News NEW DELHI: Despite being one of the world's fastest expanding economies, projected to clock seven-percent GDP growth in 2017, India - a nation of 1.2 billion - is trailing behind on many vital social development indices while also hosting one-fourth of the world's poor. While the United Nations prepares to wrap up a decade-and-a-half of poverty alleviation efforts, framed through the lens of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), by the...