17.09.2006

India’s plantations work the impossible dream

The conventional wisdom is that natural rubber grows best at altitudes of 1000 ft and tea at over 3000 ft.

The Indian plantation sector employs over 5 mln people in remote areas where alternate jobs are scarce.

AP wants Centre to boost funding for agriculture

The state has about 3 cr acres of arable land.

Currently 60 lk acres of land are under irrigation and in the next three years 1.6 cr acres of land will get assured water.

World Bank stresses need to invest in youth

There are 1.3 bln people between ages of 12 and 24 living in the developing world.

Young people make up nearly half of the world’s unemployed.

About 130 mln people in the 15-25 age group cannot read or write.

The world economy is currently performing better than expected, with growth of 5.1% forecast for this year.

India is young with about 45% of the population below 20 years.

Great Indian gold rush

About 8 mln marriages take place every year in India.

Annual gold demand in India is around 650 tonnes while global demand is around 2500 tonnes.