The virus that causes Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is slow moving and will not spread across the country as fast as the H1N1 swine flu virus, experts have said. However, the mortality rate among those affected by Congo virus will be far more than H1N1. In an exclusive interview to TOI, Dr A C Mishra, director of the National Institute of Virology, Pune, said different viruses have different characteristics. Influenza viruses...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Total Matching Records found : 361
Food crisis depicts marginalisation of the poor by Vikram Doctor
Everyone agrees that there is a food crisis. As ordinary members of the public we know there’s one every time we go out shopping for vegetables. My mother knows there’s a crisis because, after recently sacking her cook, she discovered the lady had left with all the onions in the house. The media agrees there’s one, and sends more TV crews to talk to onion farmers, even though the TV reporters...
More »Maximum Dithering for Minimum Wages!
Even though the Central Government agreed to link the wages paid under MG-NREGA to the Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers (CPIAL), it shied away from paying statutory minimum wages in various states of India. Their logic for this: Lack of clarity on who will bear the extra financial burden—the Centre or the states? A letter from the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to UPA and NAC Chairperson Sonia Gandhi dated 31...
More »Rural job scheme minimum wage revised, risking inflation spiral by Ruhi Tewari & Asit Ranjan Mishra
In a move that brings relief to the rural workforce, but risks creating an inflation spiral, the government on Thursday revised the minimum wages paid for its flagship job guarantee scheme by linking them to the Consumer Price Index for agricultural labour (CPI-AL) for each individual state. Such a price spiral, in case it actually emerges, could roil the electoral prospects of the Congress in the key contests to the state...
More »We need profits, passion in farming by MS Swaminathan
In recent years, the agricultural growth rate has tended to be lower than the population growth rate. This year, the former is nearing the target of 4%. But we still have a very large percentage of undernourished children, women and men. Poverty and destitution also remain stubborn. The Indian food security enigma rises from the mismatch between the grain mountains and the hungry millions. What are the prospects for ensuring...
More »
