Rising farm wages, which have a major impact on food prices, may force the government to devise a blueprint in which agricultural work is included under a widened ambit of a government's flagship job surety scheme, a key government official said. "We may need to come up with some sort of a special agreement for wage payment to beneficiaries working on farms since they are privately owned," Ashok Gulati, noted farm...

While global outlook for rice production is adequate as of today, complacency of policy-makers worldwide in terms of making enough investments in agriculture has LED to resurfacing of old diseases in addition to new ones threatening the gains made in this field in the past, according to R S Zeigler, director general of the Manila-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). Addressing the annual rice research group meeting held by Directorate of...

The Supeme Court on Monday adjourned civil liberties activist Binayak Sen's bail plea till Friday on the Chhattisgarh government's request. The Chattisgarh government standing councel said he would need two days time to brief a senior advocate on opposing the bail plea of Binayak Sen. Binayak Sen has been sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of sedition and links with Naxalites. Sen, 61, has challenged the order of the Chhattisgarh high court, which...

The Supreme Court will hear tomorrow the bail plea of civil rights activist Binayak Sen, who has been sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of sedition and links with Naxalites. Sen, 61, has challenged the order of the Chhattisgarh High Court, which had rejected his bail plea on February 10. A professional doctor and a pass-out of the prestigious Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, Sen has sought bail contending that the trial...

After raising the issue of nepotism in the newly-appointed joint committee on Lokpal Bill, yoga guru Baba Ramdev on Sunday backtracked saying that he had no problem with inclusion of father-son duo Shanti and Prashant Bhushan in the drafting panel. "The question of nepotism was raised by the media and not me. When I was asked about it, I said that though we have played a role in the Jan Lokpal...