-The Economic Times The state-run Rubber Board is turning to the rural employment guarantee programme to increase India's natural rubber output from the present 9 million tonne a year. With rising global demand for rubber, the board is keen to extend the area under cultivation. It has identified 400,000 hectare in the North East, 100,000 hectare in Odisha and 50,000 hectare each in Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh as areas with potential...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Rising apprehension that food inflation may finally begin to bite in electoral terms has seen the Manmohan Singh government press the panic button as retail prices of cereals, vegetables and pulses soar in comparison to last year. Persistent high inflation, particularly in food, is gnawing the government ahead of assembly polls in four major states later this year and the 2014 Lok Sabha election, a concern...

-Down to Earth Is India ready to protect itself from the onslaught of food and nutrition industry? India is shouldering a huge burden of malnutrition-in the absence of government figures, a dipstick survey by non-profit HUNGaMA in 2012 suggests that 59 per cent of the country's children could have stunted growth and 42 per cent could be underweight. While the government is still struggling to tackle the problem, the food and nutrition...

-PTI NEW DELHI: Amid rising onion prices hurting consumers, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said he was not in favour of a ban on onion exports, saying such a move will hit India's image as a global supplier of farm produce. The Minister said the rise in onion prices is a "temporary situation" as heavy rains in major producing states like Maharashtra have affected supplies. "It is not fair to ban export of any...

-PTI The Supreme Court on Monday paved the way for the Centre to enforce rules on advertisement of tobacco products at their sale outlets that prohibits display of ads larger than 60 cm x 45 cm at shops. The court also slammed the central government for "conniving" with the tobacco lobby when people are daily dying of cancer. A Bench headed by Justice G S Singhvi quashed the interim order of the Bombay...