Agriculture & Rural Development

The Covid-19 pandemic has shown us that despite several policies oriented towards rural growth and development, the widening socio-economic disparities have posed a huge challenge for the critical health care sector, especially in the rural areas. A study by National Health Profile–2019 observed that there are only 0.55 hospital beds in government hospitals per...

The state of Uttar Pradesh is on a fast-track to sprucing up its rural, agri, education and skill development quotient this month. For starters, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will distribute 20 lakh free gas connections under the Central government's Ujjwala 2.0 scheme today. A government spokesperson informed the media: “Under Ujjwala 2.0, migrant...

The maverick Satish Satpute's vision brought him from Sangli district of Maharashtra to the city of Mumbai. After completing his graduation, as with any Indian youngster, his mind was also curious about what to do next in life, where to go and what profession to choose. Someone cherishes the dream of becoming a doctor. Someone...

Union Minister of Textiles Piyush Goyal will inaugurate the Weavers Service Centre (WSC) at Raigarh on Kotra Road bypass virtually on August 7. Darshna Vikram Jardosh, the Union Minister of States for Textiles, will also be present. The event is being held as part of the National Handloom Day. August 7 was chosen as the...

A new youth movement to tackle the global pandemic is gathering steam in India. Called the #YoungWarrior movement and backed by UNICEF and the Ministry, it has already gained 60 lakh millennial volunteers from rural and urban quarters. Close to 5,800 girls aged 18-30 years recently registered as Young Warriors and pledged their support to...

Majority of India's population reside in rural areas. In order to make it to the list of developed nations, it is very important for the country to focus on the development of these rural areas. Ambuja Cement Foundation, the CSR arm of Ambuja Cement, has been focusing on holistic rural development through various initiatives. In...

In keeping with its commitment to support local communities during COVID-19, AkzoNobel India today announced its latest ‘People. Planet. Paint.’ sustainability initiatives. The CSR project follows a two-pronged approach that addresses the health and well-being needs of community members across five states while also meeting the online learning needs of more than 300 children...

Rotary and Tata Trusts have announced a five-year collaboration to advance socio-economic indicators through multi-thematic interventions across India. The collaboration will scale efforts in multiple areas like Healthcare, Cancer Care, Covid Care, Nutrition, Rural Uplift, Livelihoods, Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene and Education, among others. The announcement follows a Memorandum of Understanding signed by Mehrab Irani, Group...

HDFC Bank spent Rs. 634.91 crore towards #Parivartan, the umbrella programme for all Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, in FY 2020-21. Out of Rs. 634.9 crore, over Rs. 110 crore was allocated and utilised towards initiatives focused on Covid-19 relief. Further, the bank’s #Parivartan has cumulatively impacted over 8.5 crore lives across India. #Parivartan focuses on...

The Vedanta Group, India’s leading natural resources producer, announced Rs. 5,000 crore social impact programme focussed on nutrition, women & child development, healthcare, animal welfare and grassroots level sports, including major investments in a Corona-free village project across several States to combat the pandemic. This social impact programme will be run under the aegis of...

Maharashtra faces an increasing risk from climate change which is likely to impact the production of four major crops - Soybean, Cotton, Wheat and Gram, grown in the State, according to a study by the Institute for Sustainable Communities. The report titled “Climate Change Impacts on Maharashtra Agriculture” examines the week-wise 30-year averages of historical...

Rural tech startups Frontier Markets, HESA and 1Bridge have announced the formation of a coalition to address the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic in the rural sector. The Rural Access coalition aims to raise $8 million to ensure employment, awareness and accessibility to 1 million rural households in 6,000 villages across 4 states in...