-The Hindu The expenditure on providing food security will add minimally to India's public spending which is less than what even lower middle income Asian countries spend on social protection In recent media coverage, critics often argue that the cost of the National Food Security Bill (NFSB) is excessive. The Economic Times referred to the NFSB as a "money guzzling measure" and according to CNBC-TV18, Rahul Bajaj, chair of Bajaj Auto, said...
More »SEARCH RESULT
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 »Income disparity between rich and poor growing rapidly -Subodh Varma
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Everybody knows that there is a chasm between the rich and the poor. But can it be measured? And, more importantly, is this disparity between the rich and poor growing or coming down? New data based on consumption expenditure surveys shows that income disparity is growing and at a rapid clip. Spending and consumption by the richest 5% zoomed up by over 60% between 2000 and...
More »Punjab’s new agro policy will be a drain on hope -Chander Suta Dogra
-The Hindu Groundwater meets three quarters of the State's farming needs The Punjab State Farmers Commission recently published a draft new agriculture policy for the State that envisages substantial crop diversification from paddy and wheat staples that the State has been growing since the sixties. The draft policy, currently being debated in agriculture circles, is the first serious road map to steer Punjab's agriculture towards a new dynamic, necessitated by a sharp...
More »Under attack, Congress says poverty line 'unrealistic'
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Facing allegations of trivializing poverty for tom-tomming Planning Commission figures that show a decline in the number of poor, the Congress changed its tune on Saturday to dub the poverty line as "unrealistic". The all-round assault on Congress seems to have resulted in the course correction that reflected in the disapprovals issued by Digvijaya Singh, Kapil Sibal and Rajiv Shukla. Union minister Kapil Sibal and AICC general...
More »