According to the third advance estimate, India’s foodgrain production in the current farm year (to end in June 2011) will be a record 235.88 million tonnes, including an all-time high wheat output of 84.27 million tonnes against 81.47 million tonnes projected earlier. Ahead of the wheat harvest, the country had buffer foodgrain stock of 47 million tonnes at the start of 2011 in the central pool. A buffer close to double...

UPA wants JPC to do the job BJP feels it has a better chance of indicting the government Congress men realise that a JPC report will be more to their advantage After a three-hour-long discussion here on Thursday, the Public Accounts Committee remained a divided house on the question whether it should finalise its findings in a report on the 2G spectrum allocation or leave the entire issue to the Joint Parliamentary Committee...

As the political drama surrounding the fast undertaken by social activist Anna Hazare made way for the 10-member drafting committee for a Lokpal Bill, the Bharatiya Janata Party's stance has changed slowly but surely from open support to the Hazare-led group to scepticism. Within a day of Mr. Hazare sitting on fast here, BJP president Nitin Gakari said the social activist's views on the Lokpal Bill were “reasonably correct” and his...

The United Nations agency dealing with weather and climate today reported that ozone loss over the Arctic has reached an unprecedented level this spring owing to the continuing presence of ozone-depleting substances and extremely cold temperatures. Data shows that the Arctic region has suffered an ozone column loss of about 40 per cent from the beginning of the Winter to late March, according to a news release issued by the World...

Large-scale damage to the wheat crop from 'yellow rust' – a fungal disease – in the lower areas of the state, including Mandi, Kangra, Una and some parts of Hamirpur districts, has raised an alarm among farmers. High humidity in Winters with fluctuating temperatures through the cold months acted as favourable conditions for the disease. “Immense damage of wheat crop has been reported in Mandi district due to yellow rust attack and...