NAGPUR: Bt cotton may have taken almost 99% area under cotton cultivation in Maharashtra but, looking at the diminishing profit margins, the state government is planning to evolve other options to the genetically modified variety of the crop. The government feels it will reduce cultivation cost and increase profitability and sustainability of the crop for the farmer. State agriculture minister Radhakrishan Vikhe-Patil has asked agriculture universities to develop alternatives to Bt...

-The Hindu Instruments that permit people to vote directly on policy and to initiate legislation can ensure that the citizen’s voice is heard   Independent India has been a large-scale experiment in democracy. Unlike many other nations that gained independence from colonial rule but descended into dictatorships and military rule, India has remained a democracy, despite its size and diversity. While we pride ourselves on this achievement, we also need to reflect more...

-The Times of India More than 30 billion apps were downloaded in 2011 and three-quarters of the world's inhabitants now have access to a mobile phone. India has 70 mobile subscriptions per 100 people, a new report from the World Bank says. "Mobile Communication has arguably had a bigger impact on humankind in a shorter period of time than any other invention in human history," the "Information and Communications for Development 2012: Maximizing...

-Press Information Bureau I am very happy to release the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA Sameeksha, brought out by the Ministry of Rural Development. This is an innovative way of looking at our development programmes. I compliment Shri Jairam Ramesh for taking the initiative to reach out to scholars in different parts of our country to apply their minds to analysis of what is being achieved, what is possible, what is not yet...

-The Times of India LUCKNOW: In a country where women have served on the country's highest Constitutional posts, the fairer sex is being made to live the Taliban way in Aasra village of Baghpat district of UP, barely 50km from the national capital. The village panchayat has put a total ban on women under 40 years from visiting local markets, using cellphones and being seen in public without their head covered. Ironically,...