The global cost of disasters is growing: The economic burden of disasters is intensifying. While the direct costs of disasters averaged $70–80 billion a year between 1970 and 2000, between 2001 and 2020 these annual costs grew significantly to $180–200 billion. But the real cost is far higher. Disaster costs …
Sept. 4: The government has formed an inter-ministerial group, headed by agriculture secretary T. Nanda Kumar, to oversee the implementation of various decisions taken by it to manage drought. Agriculture ministry spokesman Manoj Pandey said, the inter-ministerial group (IMG) met on Thursday and reviewed the situation. He said that the …
The sense of optimism in the wake of the release of the GDP data for the first quarter of the current financial year (April-June 2009) is rooted in the belief that the worst might be over. The rate of growth at 6.1 per cent might not be significantly higher than …
Four South Asian countries including Bangladesh, Afghanistan, India and Nepal are particularly vulnerable to falling crop yields caused by Melting Himalayan glacier, floods, droughts, erratic rainfall and other climate change impacts, says a preliminary finding of a new study financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). "Melting Himalayan glaciers and …
It will take Rs 250 crore for the government to effectively plug leakages in payments under its flagship National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) by installing biometric identification devices in around 250,000 panchayats covered under the scheme. The government is exploring a banking correspondent model to deliver cash to workers …
A Central team headed by senior officer Upma Choudhary reached Jaipur on Wednesday to assess the prevailing drought situation in Rajasthan. The eight-member team split in two groups and is going to visit the drought-affected areas of the state. The state government had submitted a memorandum to the Central government …
Sujay Mehdudia NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said the effects of the global meltdown had begun to wear out and asserted that UPA II was in a commanding position to tackle drought. Terming the pessimism about the economy unwarranted, Dr. Singh, chairing the first full-fledged meeting of …
Give compensation of Rs.10,000 an acre to farmers PUDUKOTTAI: The Pudukottai district Grand Anicut Canal Farmers and Ayacutdars Association, has urged the State Government to declare Pudukottai district as drought-affected and give a compensation of Rs.10,000 per acre to the farmers. A. Ramasamy, president, in a statement issued here on …
Leaders of the Rajya Kisan Sabha have alleged that the State government has not sanctioned any relief funds to the five drought-affected taluks in Kolar. The government has identified 30 taluks in nine districts of the State as drought affected, and has announced a relief of Rs one crore per …
AMIT AGNIHOTRI Following Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's directive towards convergence of NREGS with other agricultural and rural development schemes to minimise the impact of drought, the rural development ministry is planning innovation in the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojna (SGSY). "We are contemplating combining NREGS to develop skills in the rural …
Jayati Ghosh Sept.02 : The poor monsoons and prevailing drought conditions in large parts of the country have once again turned the attention of policymakers to the problems of agriculture and food security. But they have also created tendencies to postpone some important decisions and commitments which are now more …
Even as the Bihar government has declared 26 of its 38 districts as drought-affected, several parts of Darbhanga, Madhubani, Saharsa and Supaul districts have been facing flood, affecting over one lakh people. Over 100 houses have been washed away in Supaul and Saharsa because of Kosi water flooding the fields. …
Rashme Sehgal Aug. 31: Drought conditions across practically half the country are as severe as the two consecutive droughts faced by the country in 1965-66 when hundreds of people died of starvation in Bihar alone claims Dr Pronab Sen, secretary, ministry of statistics and programme implementation. The kharif crops in …
The Roman Catholic church has agreed to extend its help to the state which is struggling to ensure proper distribution of foodgrain to the poor and the needy in the wake of acute drought conditions in most parts of Jharkhand. T.P. Sinha, the adviser to Governor K. Sankaranarayanan, made a …
