-Business Standard The programme will cover both water-scarce and flood-affected areas in India Ahmedabad: Ahead of the monsoon, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) will be reaching out to 100,000 villages with its water conservation programme. The Nabard will be working with villagers on better use of water for agriculture and household purposes.   Amid a drought-like situation in several areas, the Nabard targets to help farmers extend water availability and...

-The Hindu Business Line Karnataka, the first State to formulate an organic farming policy way back in 2004, has stepped up measures to spread the concept among farmers in recent years. Also, it has been working on rebuilding farmers’ interest in millets through incentives such as guaranteed buy-back and a bonus over the minimum support price. To provide market linkages to the over 1 lakh organic farmers in the State, the Karnataka government...

-The Hindu Officials want security features changed every 3-4 years That the new Rs. 2,000 and Rs. 500 notes have the same security features as the old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 ones has the security agencies worried. At a high-level meeting last week to discuss the presence of fake currency notes, officials at North Block were informed that the “covert security features” had not been changed since 2005. The Hindu had reported on...

-The Hindu In the last three years, important entitlements for children have been undermined by the Centre The recent notification of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, making Aadhaar compulsory for midday meals in government schools, has attracted the criticism it deserves. This notification serves no clear purpose other than to force children to get enrolled under Aadhaar. The government, unfortunately, managed to create the impression that the notification had been retracted,...

-Business Standard Pending labour wages by the end of 2016-17 could be around Rs 3,000-4,000 crore For the second year running, the Centre is likely to approve a labour budget of around 2.2 billion person-days under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).   The labour budget, for 2017-18, could be enhanced as well, if more demand is generated owing to drought or insufficient rainfall in any part of the country, senior...