-The Hindu Activists attribute trend to improved functioning of service. New official data show that the proportion of Indian households using the Public Distribution System has nearly doubled over seven years. These households are relying more on the PDS and less on open market sources than before. The National Sample Survey Organisation’s report on the ‘Public Distribution System and Other Sources of Household Consumption’ was released last week and looks at findings from...

-Daily Pioneer Contrary to a growing trend, many farmers in Tamil Nadu are now opting for organic farming as it is a low-cost affair. Moreover, the products are sold at a higher price in the market for they are good for health and environment Jayappa and Sharadamma, a husband-wife farmer duo from a non-descript village in Tamil Nadu have earned a name for themselves in the field of organic farming. Today they...

-Business Standard The govt's view is that the unions should be representatives of the workers who can negotiate with the management and raise issues concerning them The labour wing of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on Monday raised concerns over the Union government's proposal to restrict the entry of outsiders into the trade unions. "The ILO convention clearly states that it should be up to the trade unions to decide about its structures...

Is the Government stepping back from its responsibility under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) by giving technical reasons? Civil society organizations, which struggled to enact the Right to Food legislation, doubt that this may be the case. It has been alleged recently by several civil society activists that the Government is rolling back the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY), which is meant for food security of the extremely poor households,...

-Business Standard Patna/Nalanda: Baldev Prasad Mandal, a native of Painathi panchayat in Bihar's Patna district, sold 250 quintals of rice to the village-based primary agriculture credit societies (PACS), an agency responsible for procuring foodgrain directly from farmers at the RATe of Rs 1,660 a quintal in March this year. Even as the new kharif season is about to begin, Mandal is one of the many farmers in the state who are...