Like Kerala’s Kasaragod, neighbouring Dakshina Kannada is bearing the brunt of spraying of endosulfan. While Kasaragod grabbed media spotlight and Kerala banned the pesticide, victims in Karnataka are still struggling for recognition. Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa in December announced that his government would consider banning endosulfan. The highly toxic pesticide is banned in over 70 countries. The assurance has come too late and is too little for the hundreds of...
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No new cases of Congo virus: Health Ministry by Aarti Dhar
This is the virus' first appearance in India The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday claimed that no new cases of the Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) were reported from Gujarat even as a six-member central team of the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) arrived in Ahmedabad to investigate the outbreak. The National Institute of Virology (NIV) at Pune has sent a team as well. Surveillance begun Surveillance activity has been...
More »45% of farmers want to quit farming: Swaminathan by K.V. Kurmanath
Prof M.S. Swaminathan, the father of Green Revolution and Chairman of National Commission on Farmers (NCF) that called for revamp of policies to revitalise agriculture, says agricultural sector in India is entering a state of serious crisis. Quoting figures from National Sample Survey Organisation, he says half of the farmers in the country want to quit farming. Prof Swaminathan, who was here to deliver the Convocation Address at the Acharya N.G....
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 »Decline and fall of Indian poverty by Surjit S Bhalla
In this winter of gloom, doom and corruption, the government can bask in some warmth from data collected by its statistical agencies. (Alas, these agencies have yet to hire some basic data-processing capabilities from minor computer firms, let alone agencies like Infosys. Perhaps Nandan Nilekani can loan some programmers from the UID project.) So what is the issue, and what is the evidence?It was only a few months ago that...
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