-Business Standard At present, the average crop insurance premium on pulses that a farmer has to pay ranges between 10 per cent and 12 per cent of the sum insured New Delhi: To provide a safety net to growers of pulses, which could also help boost production, the Centre's proposed new crop insurance policy has pegged the burden of premium on pulses at a moderate two per cent of the sum insured. Officials...

-TheWire.in Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Agricultural Land Ceiling (Amendment) Bill, 2015, unanimously passed in the two-day monsoon session of the Gujarat state assembly – after Congress MLAs were suspended for creating a “ruckus” –  is finally beginning to get national attention. The Bill is lying with President Pranab Kumar Mukherjee, awaiting his final nod after the Gujarat governor, O.P. Kohli, sent it to Delhi for approval.  According to sources, the risk-averse Kohli...

-Livemint.com Move to train 10,000 youths aimed at maintaining quality of assets created under rural jobs scheme New Delhi: The ministry of rural development is planning to train at least 10,000 youths in basic civil engineering concepts and engage them in the planning and supervision of works carried out under the ministry’s flagship welfare programme—the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), according to ministry officials who did not want...

-Down to Earth Even as studies point out the use of these pesticides in food commodities, coordination gaps between concerned deparments have not been addressed In a scheme for monitoring pesticide residues in food commodities, the Ministry of Agriculture has found that 12.5 per cent of samples analysed contained non-approved pesticides. The 2014-15 annual report of the ministry's Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare contains data related to use of pesticides,...

-The Hindu Government sources told The Hindu that at PDS packaging centres, new unbranded bags were being replaced with used ones. Jute bags MEAnt for packaging of foodgrains under the Public Distribution System (PDS) allegedly provided their manufacturers — in league with some officials of procuring State government agencies, quality insurance inspectors and middlemen — an opportunity to siphon off thousands of crores in government revenue. So serious is the scam that the...