PRIME Minister Manmohan Singh complimented his government on the progress of flagship programmes in his opening statement at the national press conference held recently, but was candid about challenges related to their implementation. UPA’s schemes for the poor have been at the core of the government’s ‘inclusive development’ agenda and were credited with bringing Congress back to power. Yet the government is unable to implement well the Mahatma Gandhi National...

Thanks to predictions of a good monsoon, Planning Commission member Abhijit Sen has projected a robust growth rate of five per cent from 0.2 per cent in agriculture and allied sectors in 2010-11. From the earlier estimate of -0.2 per cent last year, the growth rate has been revised to 0.2 per cent. Dr. Sen, who is in charge of the farm and food sector in the Commission, said food inflation was...

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on the occasion of completion of one year of the UPA Government in its second term said on Monday that the flagship programmes launched by his government are progressing well. "I will briefly highlight some of the important steps we have taken over the past year and also the pressing challenges that confront the nation,' Dr. Singh said during his opening remarks at the national...

Biodiversity drives sustainable and climate-resilient farming and the biotechnology industry. Everything should be done to spread bio-literacy for an era of bio-happiness in rural and urban India through the conversion of bio-resources into jobs and income.  Biodiversity provides building blocks for sustainable food, health and livelihood security systems. It is the feedstock for the biotechnology industry and a climate-resilient farming system. Given its importance, a Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)...

Thirty years ago, a department of environment was set up in the Central government; 25 years ago, this was upgraded into a full-fledged ministry of environment and forests. As we mark these anniversaries, it must be said that the ministers in charge of this ministry have generally been incompetent, or malign, or both. Some might make an exception for Maneka Gandhi, who was minister of state for the environment between...