GoodNewsIndia :: The Sieve
Good news filtered from media streams
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Mar 22, 2007 : Rural poverty declines
Rural poverty by any measure, appears to have declined, according to the National Sample Survey Organisation [NSSO]. Between 1993 and 2005, the number of people below poverty line declined from 244 million to 170 million. But at the same time, urban poverty has increased.That begs the question: has poverty only shifted, with people migrating from villages to the cities? “No”, argues Harish Damodaran in this report. If that were so, there should be a fall in the total rural population, which is not the case. India still largely -72%- lives in villages.
Mar 22, 2007 : A weaver’s son innvoates
Typical of most inventors, S Shanmugam, son of a poor weaver in Erode refused to fall into the traditional mould. He refused to carry on his father’s trade, disobeyed his parents, worked and saved his wages for an education and three years after he left school, enrolled for a technical course .There he blossomed: he innovated a way by which a weaver can produce three extra metres of fabric per hour. He had seen weavers stop every three minutes for a minute to extend the yarn. Shanmugam had seen this practice and refused to accept it. That was the seed that led to his innovation.
But what is more heartening to learn is that Mr Muthuswamy, Principal of the polytechnic admitted Shanmugam three years after he left school. And two, this innovation in a far corner of south India got noticed and the young man received the Grassroots Level Young Innovator Award from the hands of President Abdul Kalam. Story
Mar 20, 2007 : Rubber trees as border guards
In an innovative move, the government is exploring the creation of rubber plantations all along Tripura’s borders with Bangladesh. These are notoriously leaky and soldiers can’t quite cope with illegal immigrants. Fencing with barbed wire is also very expensive and requires constant maintenance.The idea is to create rubber plantations, populate them with tribals to manage them, get them to double as cost-free guards and have a profitable harvest of rubber, to boot. [!] A 3,784ha of pilot plantation has already been created and another 400ha will be added this year.Report
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