-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: Farmers are being advised to protect standing potato, wheat and masur crop from weather vagaries. A dip in temperature and rains have resulted in pest and fungal infestations at some places across the northern and western India. Reports of yellow rust on wheat fields have been reported across the north Indian states. "We have detected yellow rust in wheat fields of Punjab, Haryana and Jammu," said Indu...

-Frontline The tussle within some Central government Ministries over proposed cuts in the budget for rural development schemes has affected a promise made to senior citizens. THEIR wizened faces said it all. Though there was disappointment, there was also a glimmer of hope that their trek to the national capital would not go in vain. For almost a month, senior citizens, most of them poor, had been pouring into New Delhi from...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The World Health Organisation's official relations with various non-State actors are under the scanner as the next WHO executive board meeting took off in Geneva on Monday. The non-State actors are being accused of representing the private commercial sector and of being guided by the market profit-making logic and not by public interest. The NGO Policy of the WHO defines NGOs as those groups whose main...

-The Hindu     Production is likely to be 207.29-lakh tonnes against the target of 224.96-lakh tonnes Hyderabad: Foodgrains production in the State is likely to fall short of the target by about 18-lakh tonnes in 2013-14. The shortfall is being attributed to damage of standing crops due to cyclones in the coastal districts and because of excessive rains in other areas. The shortfall is mainly contributed by drop in the production of paddy (rice)...

-PTI NEW DELHI: Apparently taking a leaf out of Aam Aadmi Party's strategy, the government is mulling a proposal to make it mandatory for Union ministries to elicit public opinion before framing legislations. To take the proposal forward, the Cabinet secretariat may convene a meeting of secretaries of the various ministries and departments before a final call is taken on it. "The proposal requires all central ministries to elicit public views on legislations...