-Down to Earth Schools in Maharashtra do not want responsibility, say the scheme hampers teaching THE Maharashtra government may allow schools in the state to outsource midday meal with the consent of school management committees (SMCs). The Mid Day Meal Committee, constituted by the state government, recommended in early November that education societies which run more than one school can outsource midday meal to a single agency if the SMCs agree. The...

-Down to Earth India faces a surplus of foodgrains. Is exporting a good option? With India's grain mountain set to implode, the government is desperate to push the exports of rice and wheat. However, a global glut and the resulting depression of prices are dimming the prospects of foodgrain exports. According to the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the nodal agency for grain trade in the country, India is sitting on 34 million...

-Frontline DAVID SANDERS, Professor Emeritus and founding Director of the School of Public Health at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in South Africa, is a specialist paediatrician with postgraduate qualifications in public health. One of the founders of the global public health movement, he has over 30 years' experience in health policy and programme development in Zimbabwe and South Africa, having advised governments as well as organisations such as...

-The Hindu Appachi eco-logic cotton project is a unique organic cotton contract farm model in the Western Ghats region of Kabini Reservoir. The project covers nearly 1,200 farmers spread over 1,875 acres. Over 17 per cent of the area comes under reserve forests of both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu and exposing the cultivation fields to wild animal attacks is forcing farmers to start cotton cultivation on a mono cropping basis instead of...

-Outlook Delhi Assembly elections this time saw not just the highest voter turnout but also the highest number of violations of the Model Code of Conduct. A total of 42,000 litres of liquor worth more than Rs 1 crore was seized while Rs 1.64 crore, which was allegedly meant for distribution among voters in order to lure them, was recovered from various constituencies. Delhi Election Commission also detected 21 cases of paid news...