-The Hindu Business Line Basmati, bovine exports have already plateaued New Delhi: With export earnings from basmati and bovine meat — the flagship agricultural and processed export sectors — hitting a plateau, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) is exploring newer avenues, Chairman Devendra Kumar Singh said on Wednesday. According to data available with APEDA, export earnings from agricultural and processed food products have drastically dropped from $21.5 billion...

-The Hindu Why did the West Bengal girls’ welfare scheme win the UN Public Service Award this year? In 2014, Rehana (name changed), a 15-year old from a school in West Bengal’s Sunderbans region, was rescued from a red light area in Delhi. The Class IX student had been ensnared by traffickers who then sold her off in Kolkata. After being brought back, the local administration and a non-governmental organisation (NGO) re-enrolled...

-Governance Now Only 20 percent wage payments are time bound under NREGA, says a new study A new research on the implementation of national rural employment guarantee law (NREGA) disputes the way central government measures and offers the delay in compensation to workers. A group of three independent researchers claim that the figures in the NREGA management information system (MIS) have been manipulated to only partially calculate the duration of wage...

-Mumbai Mirror A behind the scenes look at what’s driving the region’s return to traditional paddy techniques. It’s certainly not the global shift towards organic cultivation. A recent study conducted by Harvard University has established that consuming just one cup of white rice (polished rice) a day can put you at risk of diabetes, regardless of your nationality or whether you have a family history of the disease. Bhairav Saini lives in...

-Livemint.com Under the flagship crop insurance scheme Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Rs5,875 crore, or just 45%, has been paid to farmers, agriculture ministry data shows New Delhi: Farmers who suffered crop losses in 2016-17 are yet to receive insurance compensation for 55% of estimated claims under the flagship Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), shows latest numbers from the agriculture ministry. The data shows that insurance companies collected Rs22,338 crore in 2016-17...