The Union Government, especially the Ministry for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj deserve all credit for declaring 2009-2010 the year of the Gram Sabha
Cities have forgotten the amazing foods and cuisines they used to once enjoy. To remind them the Millet Network of India (MINI) and Kheti Virasat Mission organised the first ever exhibition of millets at the Press Club in Chandigarh called Bebe di Rasoi (Grandmother
Climate change is leaving Ladakhis rather confused. This cold desert perched on the roof of the world is now warmer. There is more rain. Ladakhis are seeing these changes as a mixed blessing. Till some years ago Ladakh received merely 35 mm of rain. No farmer or household counted on rainfall for crops or for drinking water.
Every single gadget we use will sooner or later end up in a trash can. Computers, mobile phones, DVD players, TV sets, will all be junk. From a computer penetration density of less than 10 per 1000 population in 2005, India will exceed 60 per 1000 in 2010. Mobile phones will touch 300 million and TV sets over 140 million.
Collaboration between General Motors and the Reva Electric Car Co. will for the first time make battery-operated cars widely available in India. Under the tie-up with GM, the Spark will go electric using Reva technology. The Reva will continue to be produced as a separate car. Both cars will be available at all GM dealerships.
The weather has been in the news for all the wrong reasons across India this year. Typically, a 10 per cent shortage over 20 per cent of the country qualifies as a drought, according to the Indian Meteorological Department
It is well known that government schemes and programmes meant for the poor fail due to corruption. As aspirations rise, the challenge before politicians is to deliver development. It is people as the beneficiaries of government schemes and programmes who can say where the system is working and where it is not. The social audit makes this possible.
