PMO suggests adopting cluster approach to boost food output; FCI asked to enhance storage capacity With the National Food Security Bill set to be introduced in Parliament, the Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has taken initiatives to boost the farm sector, including steps to increase the production of pulses and oilseeds. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), after a meeting on Tuesday to review the agriculture sector, has asked the agriculture...

Studies by the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Academic Forum on food security issues in the three countries suggest that providing food access works best when backed by cash transfers. A paper on food security brought out by the UNDP’s Brasilia-based International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG), under the Forum, shows that despite the great strides in food production made by India people in this country are just not eating enough. Citing indices...

Do agencies like the Ford Foundation push their own agenda through the NGOs they support? It’s often said, tongue in cheek, that India’s “shadow” government works out of the nondescript, low-slung buildings abutting the Lodhi Garden in Delhi. That’s partly hubris, but it also stems from being close to the centre of power. This rarefied zone houses powerful “cultural” institutions like the India International Centre, as well as a host...

-PTI   The Supreme Court constituted Environment Assessment (EIA) Committee would launch a detailed 15-day survey in mining areas in the district from September 12 to assess the environmental impact due to mining. The survey team is headed by Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) Director General Dr V K Bahuguna. Speaking to reporters here, Bahuguna said they visited Gonda Reserve Forest and Vyasanakere in Hospet taluk today and found most mining...

To give the much-needed impetus to the farm sector, the Government will have its first agriculture survey this financial year in February on the lines of the economic survey. Sources said that the Agriculture Ministry’s apprehensions on the production growth to meet the National Food Security Bill’s demand have concerned the Government. Consequently, three months ago Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked the Agriculture Ministry to carry a separate survey to give...