Monthly Archives: April 2011
Acute Food Scarcity By 2020 Warn Reports
An international and national report both warn that climate change and current policies could lead to acute food scarcity by 2020Levels of CO2 will reach 410 ppm by 2010 based on the current increase rate of 0.5% per year. This … Continue reading
Glaciers Melting 100 Times Faster
A new study has found that the world’s glaciers are melting up to 100 times faster than any time in the past 350 years. The findings, based on the study of Patagonia, South America, have worrying implications for millions of … Continue reading
Reimagining India
India is on the cusp of reforming its vast social-security programmes, a cornerstone of the present government’s political foundations and an expensive gamble on which the UPA stakes its future. This year (2010-11) the government will spend Rs 1.36 lakh … Continue reading
Tracking Hunger
Emerging India either does not know or ignores the statistics: Half its children are malnourished, a record worse than the world’s symbol for deprivation, sub-Saharan Africa. In 2009, India was ranked 66th of 88 countries in the Global Hunger Index … Continue reading
How Climate Change Will Impact Agriculture
Coping with climate change and its impact on agriculture and rural livelihoods is going to be a long haul. It’s an irony that those who have caused global warming — the high-emission polluters in developed countries — are going to … Continue reading
The Road From Drought
By the time the rabi sowing season for 2009 is over, farming households in the 252 districts declared affected by drought will be further encircled by systems and frameworks over which they have little or no control. This will happen … Continue reading
‘Democracy Doesn’t Start In Parliament, But In Panchayat’
South Africa’s foreign minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, visited India recently for the India-South Africa joint ministerial commission and IBSA ministerial meeting. She spoke to Faizal Khan about Arab unrest and South Africa’s historic and contemporary relations with India.
Between Seed And Straw: When Will We Get Agriculture Right?
The figures for crop production, yield and acreage are looking healthy in this quarter. But behind the triumph a crisis gathers strength, says Rahul Goswami
A grain in an Empty Bowl: Government Services In The Urban Context
Anganwadis, ICDS and PDS are huge government programmes meant to cater to the health and nutritional requirements of the poor. Yet 72.4% of urban poor children in Madhya Pradesh are underweight, 60.4% are undernourished and almost nine out of 10 … Continue reading
Food Insecurity In Incredible India
A concept note on the proposed National Food Security Act circulated to all states continues to push for a targeted public distribution system instead of a universal one, and proposes to reduce the issue of foodgrains to 25 kg per … Continue reading