-The Hindu Deep-rooted caste biases and the brazen disregard by civic authorities of court judgments are the main reason for the frequent deaths of sewerage workers across the country Earlier this month, a group of men set forth to unblock a drain sewer in the basement of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) in Delhi. Two of the men, Ashok and Chhotu, entered the sewer but did not return....
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A new technology may make fertilizers irrelevant -Subodh Varma
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The whole world depends on fertilizers for growing crops because they provide one of the most essential elements needed for plants - nitrogen. Although nitrogen is the largest component of air, plants do not have the ability to absorb it directly. So, they have to depend on nitrogen in the soil. Only legumes like peas, beans and lentils have a method of absorbing nitrogen by...
More »Food subsidy poses fiscal threat, may not help poor: World Bank
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Prices of globally traded food declined for the third consecutive quarter since their historical peak in August, 2012, a World Bank report has said but cautioned that uncertain weather conditions and domestic policy decisions such as extension food subsidy programmes in India and other countries need a close watch. Prices of all the three main food categories declined between February and June, 2013. Prices of grains...
More »Hungry mothers, starving children-Mathangi Subramanian
-The Hindu Women are essential for the success of schemes like the mid-day meal programme. Improving their wages and working conditions would be better than blaming them when things go wrong. Mahatma Gandhi once declared, "A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." By this yardstick, India does not fare well. Consider recent headlines alone: 23 Bihari children die after eating poisoned midday meals at their schools. Six-year-old...
More »The deep water crisis -P Sainath
-The Hindu Hard-working rig-operators are providing a real response to a very real demand from farmers, but with grave consequences for groundwater supplies No other town can boast as deep a connection with the rest of the country as this little one in Tamil Nadu. Machines from here have struck great depths in most Indian States (and in many African countries as well). Tiruchengode is the nation's borewell rig capital and thousands...
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