-The Financial Express Data from the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 may help states finding it difficult to identify beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act and put their names online, reports Sandip Das in New Delhi. However, given that SECC final numbers, which ranks households based on their socio-economic status, are currently available for only 119 of the country's 640 districts, the Centre's plan to roll out the NFSA...

-The Hindu Business Line New Delhi: Prices of vegetables and pulses are set to shoot up after unseasonal rain damaged over 50 lakh hectares of standing crops across the country, putting enormous strain on household budgets. Consumers will have to pay more for potatoes, carrots, cabbages, mustard and almost all the pulses over the next few weeks. Rain in northern, central and western parts has caused widespread damage to crops in Punjab,...

-The Indian Express As of the first half of March, 786 million of those who are 18 and older have got Aadhaar numbers. The largest absolute numbers are in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. There are two broad channels for Aadhaar enrolment - the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) itself and the Registrar General of India (RGI). For instance, in Lakshadweep, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal,...

-Down to Earth Rajasthan's livestock is facing a threat as grazing lands disappear and laws paralyse traditional economic incentives for keepers Livestock has sustained the people of Rajasthan during times of drought or when agriculture was unviable. State government data suggests 80 per cent of rural families in Rajasthan keep livestock in their households, and 35 per cent of the total income of small and marginal farmers comes from dairy and animal...

-PTI Vadodara: The farmers in the country can do away with their dependence on conventional forms of energy for operating pumps to water their fields as a private company has come up with a solar-energy operated pump, which will also reduce environment pollution. ABB India has developed a solar-powered water pump for irrigating crops with rural India facing problems in the supply of electricity and availability of diesel for operating gensets. "ABB solar...