-Down to Earth The move will give a boost to the export of the variety; help growers get a premium price for the fruit Citrus Reticulata Blanco, the world famous orange of Nagpur, was recently given the Geographical Indicators (GI) tag under the Geographical Indication of Goods, (Registration and Protection) Act 1999. This means the growers of the Nagpur orange, or Nagpur mandarin (as it is known to scientists), will now be...

-The Business Standard The Planning Commission needs to be replaced by institutions prescribed under the Constitution for the functions it usurped The Planning Commission was a powerful centre of extra-constitutional authority, but not because the Constitution overlooked the need for the roles that it played. The prescription of fiscal flows from Centre to states was assigned under Article 280 to Finance Commissions, set up every five years with what by convention...

-The Hindu High tension electricity towers installed in fields render the land partially useless Hyderabad (Telengana): Mohd Burhan, a small farmer, is faced with a piquant situation. He has to marry off his daughter and all he has is a piece of land to meet the expenditure. Well, he is prepared to sell away his 10 guntas situated at Ibrahimpally near Chevella for the marriage. But there are simply no takers. A few...

-The Economic Times PUNE: The deficient monsoon this year is likely to hit production of coarse grains such as jowar and bajra and other minor millets like ragi and pulses the hardest. This may not have much impact on the country's food security because India has ample stocks of wheat and rice but it will add to the financial burden of farmers, who will be forced to pay more for animal...

-The Business Standard The Budget missed the chance to articulate its intentions to the farming community; the prime minister's Independence Day speech provides another invaluable opportunity Young Indians starting their careers in an environment devoid of hope and opportunity and surviving on dole will be inclined to populist politics. But the farming community expects much more substance from the government, and the Budget was a good example of how populism trumped...