Five major steps taken by the State government for implementing the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) in the backward districts in the State has come in for praise at a national workshop in Mussourie.

The use of electricity, an integral part of our lives, is increasing by the day. But did you know that accidents involving it are also on the rise? That Kerala accounts for 10 per cent of such accidents taking place in the country? There are a number of such interesting pieces of information in a handbook brought out by the Electrical Inspectorate of the State government in connection with the observance of the first week of May as the Electrical Safety Week.

The Union government has decided to provide subsidy to all cooperative milk marketing institutions for switching over to natural vanilla as a flavoured ingredient in their various milk-based products. The commerce ministry is preparing a scheme for this and a notification will be issued shortly. The ministry has planned to provide the difference in prices between natural and synthetic vanilla as subsidy.

The onus is on the State government to effectively introduce measure to curb the price rice, Union Minister of State for Planning and Parliamentary Affairs V. Narayanasamy has said.

The issue of reduction in foodgrain allocation to Kerala rocked both the Houses of Parliament. While the Left members staged a walkout in the Rajya Sabha, their counterparts in the Lok Sabha also registered their protest asking the government to raise the allocation to the State.

Rajesh Ravi