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						<title>www.im4change.org</title>
						<link>http://www.im4change.org</link>
						<description>A web resource on India rural crises - Ideas, Concerns, Facts and Backgrounders</description>
						<language>english</language>
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				<title>Untouchability still pratised in Gandhi's land by Radha Sharma</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3186</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




Rajniben, a village panchayat member from Ahmedabad district, does not have a chair to sit in the panchayat office. Unlike the other members, who all have a chair, there is a gunny sack reserved for Rajniben which she uses to sit on the floor when the panchayat meets. This is because Rajniben is a dalit and is not allowed to sit on par with panchayat members belonging to upper castes. 
]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>PM forms council to look into tribal woes</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3185</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




As the tribal heartland seethes with anger over displacement and Naxalism, the PM has formed an apex advisory body of Centre and states to guide policies affecting the ethnic population. 


The Centre has formed a ' National Council for Tribal Welfare' to provide policy guidelines across the board. It will comprise key central ministries with a bearing on tribal lives and chief minist]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Orissa coaches tribal students to compete in competititve tests</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3184</link>
				<description><![CDATA[






Orissa, which has the second highest tribal population in the country, will start high-tech coaching progammes from next month exclusively for its tribal students to help them compete in tough competitive examinations.


The state government plans to enroll about 1,000-1,500 students of Class 10 and 11 from 19 state-run tribal schools located in the interior areas for the programm]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Orissa: Child rights body calls on stake holder to expedite RTE execution</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3183</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




Chairperson of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) Santa Sihna on Sunday called upon the Orissa Government, civil society and all the stakeholders including children to play a key role in aiding the commission so as to bring changes in lives of each and every child through Right to Education (RTE).


Attending a State level convention jointly organised by NCPCR ]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Panel to find ways for convergence of NREGA, water projects</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3182</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




Government has set up an expert group to devise better methods to achieve convergence of MGNREGA activities with that of various water conservation and management programmes. 


The 30-member expert group, constituted by the Rural Development Ministry, will be headed by the CEO of the National Rainfed Areas Authority. 


andquot;It has been decided to constitute an expert group to ]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>The economics of food management by Harish Damodaran</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3181</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




Kaushik Basu proposes a new framework for release of foodgrains from government warehouses.


Last year, official food inflation peaked at 21.05 per cent for the week ended November 28. Since then, it has eased andmdash; though the year-on-year rise of 10.86 per cent for August 21 is still in double-digit territory.


Moreover, in absolute terms, the andlsquo;food articles' index f]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>19 of 44 accused in PDS scam arrested so far, says SIC</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3180</link>
				<description><![CDATA[



Altogether 19 of the 44 accused in the multi-crore public distribution system (PDS) scam in Arunachal Pradesh have been arrested so far, head of the Special Investigating Cell (SIC) investigating the scam M S Chauhan said here today. Altogether 19 accused including former chief minister Gegong Apang have been arrested but 18 of them have been granted bail by the Yupia fast track court whil]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Rural schemes are poorly implemented</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3179</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




The Mahila Swaraj Abhiyan in association with the Mahila Adhikar Abhiyan organised a two-day tribunal for women activists and elected members of the gram panchayat.


The aim is to discuss the implementation of various schemes designed for the empowerment of rural India.


The tribunal was organised to study the implementation of various programmes and its implementation at the gra]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Global food price hike worries UN by Neil Macfarquhar</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3178</link>
				<description><![CDATA[



Agricultural experts today cast a wary eye on the steep rise in the cost of wheat prompted by a Russian export ban and the questions looming over harvests in other parts of the world because of drought or flooding with memories still fresh of food riots set off by spiking prices just two years ago,


Food prices rose 5 per cent globally during August, according to the UN, spurred mostly]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Right to Food Campaign wants APL included in PDS by Gargi Parsai</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3177</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




andldquo;The hungry must not be left outandrdquo;


The steering group of the Right to Food Campaign on Saturday expressed its apprehension about doing away with the distribution of subsidised foodgrains to Above Poverty line (APL) beneficiaries under the Public Distribution System (PDS), as suggested by the Supreme Court.


While welcoming the court's order on rotting foodgrains, ]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Dormant Tribal Affairs Ministry turns pro-active by Smita Gupta</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3176</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




Realising it was losing the turf war with the hyperactive Union Ministry of Environment and Forests on a subject that has become a top priority for the United Progressive Alliance government, the once comatose Tribal Affairs Ministry has, in recent weeks, suddenly begun to assert its rights over its responsibilities.


The first sign of this realisation was reflected in Tribal Affairs]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>RTE implementation at snail's pace in state</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3175</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




Even five months after the introduction of Right to Education (RTE) Act, the state government seems to have done little to implement it. While the RTE timeline states that within six months of introduction of the Act, the student-teacher ratio should be set right and grievance committees in schools be constituted, the state government has not done either of these. The state government ha]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>RTE Act ignores children from minority groups, say activists by Maitreyee Boruah</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3174</link>
				<description><![CDATA[

Members of various NGOs and child rights activists, working for free, compulsory and quality education for underprivileged children, on Thursday lamented the fact that formulators and writers of the Right to Education (RTE) Act had failed to include children belonging to diverse minority groups.


At a state-level training for various stakeholders on the Right of Children to Free and Compul]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Maya govt scraps Aligarh project, unveils new deal for farmers’ land</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3173</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




The Uttar Pradesh government today scrapped the project for a township near Aligarh and Chief Minister Mayawati unveiled a new policy for rehabilitation of farmers, saying her andldquo;government and party were totally against forceful acquisition of farmersandrsquo; landandrdquo;.



Under the new policy, there will be provision of annuity for 33 years to a farmer whose land is acqu]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>UP farmers to get stake in projects by Virendra Singh Rawat</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3172</link>
				<description><![CDATA[



tung by farmersandrsquo; protest over land acquisition for the ongoing Yamuna Expressway project in western Uttar Pradesh, the state government today announced a new policy for land acquisition and rehabilitation of land owners.


The policy promises sops, including equity share in the development projects, for land owners.


Land acquisition hurdles have put brakes on several ambiti]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Reforms helped UP Dalits, says study by Pallavi Singh</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3171</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




Economic liberalization since the 1990s has helped Dalits in Uttar Pradesh (UP) overcome caste inequalities, according to a research paper that argues against the view that reforms have exacerbated such disparities.


The study by Devesh Kapur, Chandra Bhan Prasad, Lant Pritchett and Shyam Babu titled andldquo;Rethinking Inequality: Dalits in Uttar Pradesh in the Market Reform Eraandr]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Parliamentary panel against sugar decontrol</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3170</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




The parliamentary panel on food and agriculture has recommended against sugar decontrol, claiming the move will go against the interest of farmers as well as consumers. The views of this panel, expressed in a report tabled in the Parliament yesterday, are not binding.


andldquo;The committee is of the opinion that if the entire control on manufacturing and distribution of sugar is re]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Pawar pushes for sugar decontrol, presents case before prime minister</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3169</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




Food, PDS and civil supplies minister Sharad Pawar made a big pitch to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here on Thursday on sugar sector decontrol. He placed a plan for the Centre to buy sugar at prevailing market price for the public distribution system (PDS) directly from the open market in the new sugar year starting October. 


If this goes through in the coming season, sectoral deco]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>More foodgrains for poor at BPL rates by Gargi Parsai</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3168</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




Decision comes in the wake of court's concern


In the wake of the concern expressed by the Supreme Court at foodgrains rotting, the Union government on Thursday decided to release an additional 2.5 million tonnes of rice and wheat to the States for distribution to the poor under the Targeted Public Distribution System.


The grain will be sold at Below the Poverty Line (BPL) rates]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Poor storage not behind high food prices: Economic advisor by Nivedita Mookerji</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3167</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




The wastage of millions of tonnes of food grain due to lack of storage facilities may have rocked parliament and prompted the Supreme Court to direct the government to distribute grains free of cost to the poor, but Kaushik Basu, chief economic advisor in the finance ministry, believes lack of warehouses is only part of the problem and is in no way responsible for the rising food prices.]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Categorise students for admission, says Sibal by Maroosha Muzaffar</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3166</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




Unaided schools in the Capital can now heave a sigh of relief. The confusion following the implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act in Delhi regarding screening at the time of admission has finally been cleared out.


While the RTE Act does not allow screening of students at the time of admission, Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapi]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Private school lobby trying to dilute the law, allege NGOs</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3165</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




Members of various NGOsand child rights activists working in the field of free, compulsory and quality education for underprivileged children on Wednesday came out strongly against the private school lobby and accused it of trying to dilute the Right to Education (RTE) Act.


At a state-level training for various stakeholders of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education A]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Street children see hope in Right To Education Act by Maitreyee Boruah</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3164</link>
				<description><![CDATA[



They were poor. Some of them begged and picked rags on the streets of Bangalore, and some others worked as domestic helps. But their fate changed when the Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA), a Bangalore-based grass-root community development organisation, took notice of their plight and built a school and accommodation facilities for them.


However, not all street children ]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Jethwa, two other chosen for RTI gallantry awards</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3163</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




Slain Gujaratandmdash;based RTI activist Amit Jethwa has been chosen for a gallantry award instituted by a voluntary organisation working in the field of transparency.


The organisation, National RTI Forum, has instituted several gallantry awards for RTI activists who have dared the adversities to get information from government on the issues concerning larger public interest and exp]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Farmer's suicide: Villagers detain govt officer</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3162</link>
				<description><![CDATA[



Demanding adequate compensation to the family of a debt-ridden farmer who allegedly committed suicide, irate farmers in Orissa''s Kendrapara district today detained a senior government officer for three hours, police said.


The incident took place at Andara village when Pattamundai tehsildar Pabitra Mohan Pradhan went there to investigate the alleged debt-induced suicidal death, they s]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Five heady years of MGNREGA- Himanshu</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3161</link>
				<description><![CDATA[
Sunday will mark the fifth anniversary of the landmark National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (later rechristened the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, or MGNREGA). At a time when the country is debating the contours of similar landmark legislation for food security (the National Food Security Act), it is time to evaluate the working of MGNREGA, initially implemented in 20]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Street children see hope in Right To Education Act -Maitreyee Boruah</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3160</link>
				<description><![CDATA[
They were poor. Some of them begged and picked rags on the streets of Bangalore, and some others worked as domestic helps. But their fate changed when the Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA), a Bangalore-based grass-root community development organisation, took notice of their plight and built a school and accommodation facilities for them.

However, not all street children are luck]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Private school lobby trying to dilute the law, allege NGOs</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3159</link>
				<description><![CDATA[
Members of various NGOsand child rights activists working in the field of free, compulsory and quality education for underprivileged children on Wednesday came out strongly against the private school lobby and accused it of trying to dilute the Right to Education (RTE) Act.

At a state-level training for various stakeholders of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 a]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Categorise students for admission, says Sibal</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3158</link>
				<description><![CDATA[
New Delhi :  Unaided schools in 
the Capital can now heave a sigh of relief. The confusion following the 
implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education
(RTE) Act in Delhi regarding screening at the time of admission has 
finally been cleared out. 


While the RTE Act does not allow screening of students at the time of
admission, Union Human Resource Development]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Poor storage not behind high food prices: Economic advisor - Nivedita Mookerji</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3157</link>
				<description><![CDATA[
The wastage of millions of tonnes of food grain due to lack of storage facilities may have rocked parliament and prompted the Supreme Court to direct the government to distribute grains free of cost to the poor, but Kaushik Basu, chief economic advisor in the finance ministry, believes lack of warehouses is only part of the problem and is in no way responsible for the rising food prices.

In a]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>More foodgrains for poor at BPL rates</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3156</link>
				<description><![CDATA[
Decision comes in the wake of court's concern

In the wake of the concern expressed by the Supreme Court at foodgrains rotting, the Union government on Thursday decided to release an additional 2.5 million tonnes of rice and wheat to the States for distribution to the poor under the Targeted Public Distribution System.

The grain will be sold at Below the Poverty Line (BPL) rates in the next]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Pawar pushes for sugar decontrol, presents case before prime minister</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3155</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




NEW
DELHI: Food, PDS and civil supplies minister Sharad Pawar made a big pitch to
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here on Thursday on sugar sector decontrol. He
placed a plan for the Centre to buy sugar at prevailing market price for the
public distribution system (PDS) directly from the open market in the new sugar
year starting October.












If this goes through ]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Parliamentary panel against sugar decontrol</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3154</link>
				<description><![CDATA[
The parliamentary panel on food and agriculture has recommended against sugar decontrol, claiming the move will go against the interest of farmers as well as consumers. The views of this panel, expressed in a report tabled in the Parliament yesterday, are not binding.

andldquo;The committee is of the opinion that if the entire control on manufacturing and distribution of sugar is removed, the]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>PDS: State for review of court order</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3153</link>
				<description><![CDATA[
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State government will seek a review of the Supreme Court order restricting distribution of foodgrains under the public distribution system (PDS) to families living below the poverty line.

Speaking to the media after a meeting of the Cabinet on Thursday, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said that besides filing a review petition before the court, Kerala would ask the C]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Third farmer suicide in drought-hit Bardhaman district</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3152</link>
				<description><![CDATA[


Even though the West Bengal government is yet to confirm that suicides by farmers in the Ausgram block of Bardhaman district are drought-related, following the third incident on Wednesday, district authorities admitted on Thursday that the farmers were andldquo;under a stress of debt burden.andrdquo;

andldquo;It is not possible to be sure whether the suicides are drought-related or not, b]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Five heady years of MGNREGA by Himanshu</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3151</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




Sunday will mark the fifth anniversary of the landmark National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (later rechristened the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, or MGNREGA). At a time when the country is debating the contours of similar landmark legislation for food security (the National Food Security Act), it is time to evaluate the working of MGNREGA, initially implement]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>62000 job cards issued under MGNREGA in Kupwara</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3150</link>
				<description><![CDATA[



An amount of Rs 5.09 cror have been expended by the Rural Development Department on the execution of 433 rural works under MGNREGA upto August 2010, besides 62000 job cards were also issued during the same period. 1336, development works were also targeted to complete them during the current fiscal.


This was stated in a meeting of officers and engineers of Rural Development Department]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>3rd farmer suicide in 2 weeks by Sukanta Mukherjee and Debajyoti Chakraborty</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3149</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




A 32-year-old sharecropper hanged himself in Ausgram's Purbachati village on Wednesday morning, the third suicide in the drought-ridden region in less than two weeks. 


The news spread like wildfire through the scorched fields when, just 5km away, Trinamool Congress leaders Partha Chatterjee and Sisir Adhikary were consoling the families of the earlier two victims, Jitu Bagdi and Yun]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Vedanta Alumina gets violation notice</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3148</link>
				<description><![CDATA[



The environment ministry has issued environmental violation notice to Anil Agarwal-promoted Vedanta Aluminaandrsquo;s Lanjigarh refinery. 


Violations include failure to adhere to environment protection norms, unauthorised expansion of capacity to 6 million tonnes and sourcing of bauxite from illegal mines. The company has time till September 14 to submit its reply. An unsatisfactory e]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Centre clears rural road projects worth 4,440 crore</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3147</link>
				<description><![CDATA[



The Centre has cleared proposals for rural roads worth Rs 4,440 crore which includes areas in Orissa reeling under Left-wing influence. Union rural development minister C P Joshi told reporters on Wednesday that the empowered committee for Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) approved the proposals, taking the total approved projects under Bharat Nirman and PMGSY to Rs 40,000 crore. 
]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Sarpanches lathicharged in Jaipur as march towards Assembly turns violent</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3146</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




Sarpanches in Rajasthan on an agitation against the social audit in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS), clashed with police here on Wednesday. When the agitators hurled stones and tried to march towards the State Assembly premises, police used water cannon and then resorted to lathi-charge.



At least one sarpanch, who fell down while trying to es]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Protecting whistleblowers</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3145</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




The Bill to protect whistleblowers, introduced in the Lok Sabha, is a belated but welcome move to shield those who stand up, often at great personal risk, for the sake of truth and the public interest. The Public Interest Disclosures and the Protection to Persons Making the Disclosures Bill 2010 is the circuitous and protracted outcome of the Supreme Court's strong pitch for a mechanism ]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>RTI vs RTI</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3144</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




The swearing in of Tamil Naduandrsquo;s new chief information commissioner, K.S. Sripathy, was marked by the arrest of three right to information activists who were protesting against his appointment outside the Raj Bhavan.


M. Gopalakrishnan, Siva Elango and Madhav Vishnubhatta were arrested from the entrance to the Raj Bhavan, where Sripathy was taking oath, holding up placards tha]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Farmer suicide after drought, girl birth</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3143</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




A farmer committed suicide in Burdwan today, apparently driven by drought, debt and the anxiety of bringing up a daughter born four days ago.


Gosain Patra, 32, is the third farmer from Burdwanandrsquo;s Ausgram to have committed suicide this year. Gosain, a resident of Purbatotipara village, hanged himself from a tree this morning.


The farmerandrsquo;s family members said he ha]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Global aid needed to help Pakistan avoid losing wheat crop, says UN agency</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3142</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




Without urgent global assistance to save the upcoming wheat-planting season in Pakistan, the food security of millions in the flood-hit nation is at risk, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned today.


Severe flooding, which has affected some 18 million people in Pakistan, has inundated land half the size of Italy and wiped out much of the countryandrsquo;s]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>UN-civil society forum issues call to action to improve health of millions worldwide</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3141</link>
				<description><![CDATA[Civil society representatives from more than 70 countries wrapped up a United Nations forum today with an urgent call to action to improve the health of millions of men, women and children worldwide and step up efforts to achieve the globally agreed anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). 

In a wide-ranging declaration adopted at the end of the three-day meeting i]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Drought-affected West Bengal hit by lack of farm investment by Romita Datta</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3140</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




Thereandrsquo;s suddenly a flurry of activity in Karotia, a nondescript village in West Bengalandrsquo;s Burdwan district. Lately, a lot of politicians and state government officials have been visiting the village, and they say work on a nearly forgotten 14km irrigation canal is going to start soon.


Itandrsquo;s been nearly 36 years since the state government first proposed to dig t]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Dilemmas of equality in education by Philip G Altbach and Eldho Mathews</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3139</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




Kerala has done well in the field of higher education and holds much promise. But further policy initiatives are needed to sustain the momentum and prepare for future challenges.



Kerala, almost alone among Indian States, has pursued a consistent and in many ways successful higher education policy. It educates 18 per cent of its young people, double the national average, and has un]]></description>
			</item><item>
				<title>Coconut farmers to get technical training</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3138</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




To make the domestic coconut industry globally competitive, the Coconut Development Board has decided to impart technological training to farmers, processors, traders and exporters.


To facilitate this, Union Minister of State for Agriculture K.V. Thomas will lay the foundation stone for a andlsquo;farmers block' at the board's headquarters in Kochi on Septem ber 2, which is being ob]]></description>
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				<title>UNICEF supports India's anti-measles drive</title>
				<link>http://www.im4change.org/articles.php?articleId=3137</link>
				<description><![CDATA[




The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has backed India's efforts to increase measles vaccination in the country through routine immunisation and anti-measles campaigns. In a statement issued here, UNICEF said it strongly supported the government's efforts in increasing measles vaccination campaigns.


The statement assumes importance in the wake of four children dying reportedly]]></description>
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