The Hindu In the urgency to grant industry its due with promises of ‘Make in India,' the marginalised cannot continue to be victims of grave policy neglect and continuing alienation For some years now, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF)has been perceived as a roadblock to development or a facilitator for the industry depending on which side you are on. Former Union Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan's recent letter to Sonia Gandhi...

-The Indian Express Just a few years ago, the World Bank in its World Development Report claimed that migration from rural India to urban centres is "natural" and the same should not be interrupted or prevented through schemes like the MGNREGA. This was a shocking statement to all those who know why there is huge and ever-growing migration to cities, not only of the labour class but also of farmers and small...

-The Hindustan Times Jaipur (Rajasthan): The state government has decided to follow the Madhya Pradesh model of sustainable livelihood by convergence in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). This was decided at a review meeting of panchayati raj (PR) and rural development (RD) departments by the chief minister. "We saw their presentation in the meeting of Union minister Birendra Singh on December 16 in Jaipur in which RD heads...

-The Hindu Agroforestry promotes productive cropping environments, prevents deforestation, protects watersheds and enables agricultural land to withstand extreme weather events Growing trees on farms is a triple-win strategy for combating simultaneously the challenges of increasing food production, mitigating greenhouse gases and adapting to climate change. It is an instrument of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA), catapulted to centre-stage by President Obama's launch of the Global Alliance for CSA at the World Climate Summit on...

-The Hindu Business Line   World Bank economist says there is ‘policy fatigue' Washington DC: Improving farm productivity is central to the Indian government's goal of achieving ‘faster, more inclusive and sustainable growth', the World Bank has said in a recent report ‘Accelerating Agricultural Productivity Growth in India - Issues and Opportunities'. Although agricultural growth rebounded after 2004-05, two worrying trends emerged: concerns about the nature and sustainability of growth, the report observes, adding...