-The Business Standard Bill would pave way for setting up of an authority to help control pests & diseases in plants and animals Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha that would pave way for setting up of a National Biosecurity Authority, which would help in prevention, control, eradication and management of pests and diseases of plants and animals and unwanted organisms. The Bill which was being debated...

-The Hindu As Marathwada’s groundwater table plummets to 500 ft, farmers here, as in other districts, are freely violating the law in a frantic bid to strike water. Mahadeo Mule has invested Rs. 1 lakh during the past five months to save his crops and livestock, drilling at five different points on his land, despite already having a borewell. He has also spent close to Rs. 35,000 on water from private...

-The Economic Times The government plans to revive cultivation of crops that make Punjab's iconic "makki ki roti and sarson ka saag" -- maize and mustard -- along with horticulture and fodder to breathe life into the stressed soil and the rapidly depleting water table in the green-revolution state. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is pushing hard for crop diversification in Punjab and has appointed an inter-ministerial panel on crop diversification led by Agriculture...

-The Hindu The talks held by the government with the representatives of 11 Central trade unions here on Monday night to urge the unions to withdraw the February 20, 21 nation-wide strike call has failed and the unions have announced that the protest will be held as scheduled. INTUC president G. Sanjeeva Reddy, who participated in the talks, told The Hindu that the government representatives — Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Agriculture Minister...

-The Asian Age Ahead of the Union Budget, senior ministers of the UPA appear to be petitioning Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with claims and counter-claims over the performance of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act (MNREGA).   After finance minister P. Chidambaram apparently tried to impress upon the Prime Minister for cut in MNREGA budget, Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh, in a letter to Dr Singh, has rebutted his colleague’s perception about...