-Down to Earth A Rajasthan village has cylindrical houses that help people cope with extreme weather events It is a chilly December evening in Barmer. The average minimum temperature has dropped to 5° Celsius in this sandy district of western Rajasthan, which borders Pakistan. But thanks to his house, Dayam Khan, a Manganiyar, one of Rajasthan's many communities of traditional musicians, does not need an electric heater or a stove to keep...
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Census, NSSO differ on slum population figures -Subodh Varma
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Two government agencies - the census office and the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) - have come up with two completely different estimates of India's slum population, leaving both policy makers and the aam aadmi puzzled. The difference is so big that it can't be papered over by any technical jugglery. It has again raised suspicions of India's statistical system floundering, especially when it comes...
More »Alcohol brands now targeting women and youth, says report -Jyotsna Singh
-Down to Earth Expresses concern over alcohol brands being advertised in violation of rules India is emerging as the favourite destination for alcohol promotion of marketing companies. Their new targets are women and youth, who at present comprise a very small percentage of alcohol consumers in India. These are the observations made by a report-Alcohol Marketing and Regulatory Policy Environment in India-put out by the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI). It...
More »The R&D yield -Ajay Vir Jakhar
-The Indian Express Government must step up private sector involvement in agricultural research. Why Bharat Ratna awardee C.N.R. Rao called the acts of politicians "idiotic" is for him to elaborate. Perhaps he was referring to those advocating a ban on GM research in India. After all, Rao has vehemently urged a five-fold increase in funding for research and development in agriculture. That includes research on GM crops. On the food front, we have...
More »India tells rich nations not to treat climate issues for providing market to domestic companies -Vishwa Mohan
-The Times of India WARSAW: Hitting out at developed countries for backtracking on their commitments to fight climate change, India on Thursday used the UN climate talks platform to tell the rich nations not to treat global warming issues with a "business perspective of providing markets to domestic companies". New Delhi also expressed dismay at decision of some of the rich nations - including Japan, Canada and Australia - to scale down...
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