NileshBabu

Visually delight stuff & some research in between

The greatest human is dead - Norman Borlaug

Norman Borlaug is dead.

That probably means nothing to most people.

But Borlaug – along with other researchers who create the Green Revolution in food production – saved between two hundred million people and one billion people, depending on how you do the math.

When Princess Diana died, television networks covered it 24/7. Michael Jackson’s passing created a tsunami of Internet traffic. I learned about Borlaug’s passing on the sidebar of a news website on global development issues in foreign policy.

Filed under  //   death   food   greatest human   green revolution   india   mexico   nobel   norman   pakistan   researcher   strain   winner  

Simplest idea that addresses global warming & shrinking job opportunities

An Indian civil servant, SM Raju, has come up with a novel way of providing employment to millions of poor in the eastern state of Bihar.

His campaign to encourage people to plant trees effectively addresses two burning issues of the world: global warming and shrinking job opportunities.

Under NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) - initiated in February 2006 as the government's most ambitious employment generation scheme for poor people - the authorities are bound by law to provide a minimum of 100 days of employment a year to members of families living below the poverty line.

About 44% of Bihar's population fall into this category.

"So the idea struck to my mind, why not involve families below the poverty line in social forestry and give them employment under this scheme for 100 days?

"Under the scheme, each family can earn a minimum of 10,200 rupees ($210)."

Such a simple idea to change the world... impressive...

Filed under  //   bbc   bihar   forest   global warming   india   planting   tree