-The Telegraph An “urban-rural divide” seemed to unfold within the government today as rural development minister Jairam Ramesh appeared to take on his urban development counterpart Kamal Nath after the Centre included Chhindwara under the Integrated Action Plan for Maoist-affected areas. According to the home ministry, Chhindwara, Kamal Nath’s constituency in Madhya Pradesh, is not under Maoist influence. Ramesh said some districts not affected by the Maoist menace had been brought under the...

-The Hindustan Times Annoyed with the conduct of the four member advocates' committee, constituted by the Punjab and Haryana high court to interview 101 inmates of Rohtak shelter home abuse, for being at "logger heads" with each other, "lack of co-ordination" and "media interaction", the high court on Wednesday came down heavily on the committee. The vacation bench comprising justice LN Mittal and justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia said, "If this is the...

Science and technology hold the key to developing low-input, high-output agriculture. The challenge is to use new technologies creatively and to make evidence-based decisions on the deployment of new technologies. Crop breeding is carried out to meet two broad objectives: one, to increase yields of a crop per se and, two, to protect the yield potential by developing crops resistant to diseases, pests and environmental extremes.  Both yield-enhancement and yield-stabilisation are...

Jharkhand has proved it is both willing and able where disposing complaints related to physical disability is concerned. In the past three years (2008-11), the state received 10,095 complaints and disposed of 9,414 cases, a feat that has impressed none other than Mukul Balkrishna Wasnik, Union minister for social justice and empowerment. A two-day meet in New Delhi’s Vigyan Bhavan, hosted by Union social justice and empowerment ministry, and starting from tomorrow,...

The ASCI report says there is ample evidence of “market dominance” in specific media markets, but the government has ignored the report for three years. A ministry official tells PARANJOY GUHA THAKURTA that it is unlikely to be implemented. A report prepared by an independent institution recommending imposition of cross-media ownership restrictions recently entered the public domain nearly three years after it was submitted,  following a rebuke to the government by...