-The Times of India GANDHINAGAR: There's good news for Gujarat on the Human Development Index (HDI) front as the state's Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) has declined significantly. It has fallen to 38 in 2012 from 57 in 2003 - a drop of 33.3% - better than the 30% decline at the national level. IMR is defined as deaths of infants below one year of age per 1,000 live births. Though Gujarat has...
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No import nod for GM processed food items till March 2014 -Vishwa Mohan
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Union environment ministry has issued an order keeping in abeyance the controversial August, 2007 notification, which allows import of genetically modified (GM) processed food items into India without its prior permission, till March 31, 2014. Though the ministry has continuously been keeping the notification in abeyance since February 2008, this time it has opted for a shorter period - usually it used to be a...
More »Cutting pollution and cancer
-The Hindu The International Agency for Research on Cancer, a specialised arm of the World Health Organisation, has sounded an alert for policymakers with its conclusion that there is sufficient evidence now on outdoor air pollution as a cause of lung cancer. A separate evaluation of particulate matter in the air has led to its classification also as a ‘Group 1' pollutant, indicating firm evidence of cancer-causing properties. Given that rapidly...
More »'Employment Day' to widen rural jobs coverage -Basant Kumar Mohanty
-The Telegraph New Delhi: Panchayat officials often fob off people seeking work under the rural job guarantee scheme, keeping the programme's implementation poor in states such as Bengal and Assam, the Centre believes. Delhi has now asked the states to get their gram panchayat offices to organise a Rozgar Diwas (Employment Day) at every ward every month, where work applications will be submitted and recorded at a public meeting. Such gatherings will...
More »NABARD Launches New Scheme to Advance Direct Loans
-Outlook Shimla: National Agriculture Bank And Rural Development has launched a Warehousing Scheme (NWS) to advance loans to Public and Private sector for creation of storage infrastructure with a corpus of Rs 5,000 crore during 2013-14. "A dedicated scheme for providing assistance for creation of storage infrastructure with a corpus of Rs 5,000 crore has been introduced, pursuant to announcement made by Union Finance minister in current year's budget and the scheme...
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