-Reuters Ministry for Chemicals and Fertilisers has no plans to raise prices of urea, the most widely used soil nutrient in the country, two ministry sources said. Two newspapers reported on Monday that the government planned to increase prices of urea by 40 per cent to reduce a mounting subsidy burden. "There is no proposal to raise prices of urea," a ministry source told reporters. Another ministry source said: "The urea prices were revised...

-The Times of India   A division bench of Gujarat high court has upheld a decision of Kutch's deputy collector directing the Indian Army to pay compensation to families of four poor persons, who were killed in an explosion in Khavda a decade ago. Army personnel conducted an artillery firing practice near Khavda, the border region in the north of Kutch, on June 27, 2002. The next day, a shell exploded near the...

Farmers in Maharashtra flock to 
a new breed of aggressive leaders Its name in Marathi means edge of the hill, but Dongarkada has no hill or mountain in its vicinity. What the village in Maharashtra's Hingoli district has is a cooperative sugar factory controlled by Congress leader Ashok Chavan. Though the Adarsh Housing Society scam rocked the state and forced him to resign as chief minister, the village remains loyal to...

Indigenous knowledge and farming practices of the region's tribal people recognised for promoting food security and conserving biodiversity Traditional farming systems in India have received a major boost at a time when Indian agriculture is struggling to come to terms with modern technologies. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations has accorded the status of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) to the traditional agricultural system being practiced...

This is the season to count blessings. India's greatest blessings are its adherence to the democratic system of governance, an independent judiciary, a free and fearless media, and an Election Commission that inspires confidence. I hope that soon India will have an independent and effective Lokpal, which will pave the way for a corruption-free India, a pre-requisite for a hunger-free India. The other major paradigm shift observed in recent years is...