-The Hindu Business Line Leaving aside a focus on warehousing and farm credit, the Budget has sprayed ₹100 crore across a clutter of schemes The new government's budget is marked by a fractured approach to the farm sector, where perhaps the most significant spend has been on irrigation, after the large allocation to farm credit. Credit push A sum of ₹1,000 crore sounds good if instead of large irrigation projects and canal networks, the...
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Govt lowers rain forecast but rules out drought
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The fear of drought has receded further with Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday predicting better rainfall during August-September. Though the Met downgraded the prediction for the overall Monsoon rainfall from "below normal" to "deficient", it ruled out any possibility of drought. The IMD, in its latest forecast, predicted that "the rainfall over the country as a whole is likely to be 87% of the Long...
More »Decline in Homeless Population: Census Data
As the country celebrates 68th anniversary of her independence this year, recent data from the Census 2011 reveals that the population of homeless declined by 8.8% between 2001 and 2011 to reach 17.7 lakhs. This means that 4.5 lakh households (of average household size 3.9) still do not have any shelter to sleep safely. Although the percentage share of homeless in total population is miniscule (i.e. 0.15%), in absolute numbers...
More »Time to redefine job surety? -Vibha Sharma
-The Tribune The UPA's flagship programme MGNREGS changed the employment scene for the rural poor. While 100-day job guarantee was a novel step, loopholes and poor implementation rendered it a liability. The Modi govt hopes to gradually reinvent the scheme, if not entirely scrap it. Midway through the Congress-led UPA's second tenure - believed to be largely the courtesy of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) -...
More »Farmers told to go in for short-term crops
-The Times of India COIMBATORE: In light of the delayed southwest monsoon and severe rainfall deficit, agriculture experts have advised farmers to go in for short-term crops this year as they require less water. "We are telling them to move from their traditional crops and try short-term crops like pulses, millets, sunflower or maize," said K Velayutham, director of crop management at TNAU. Except for maize, the cycle for the other three...
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