-Business Standard Total area might remain 1-1.5 million hectares less than 2013, impacting production and prices As sowing of rabi crops enters its last leg, the overall area covered, as of Friday, was five per cent less than last year at 53.02 million hectares. This means the total this year might be 1-1.5 million hectares less than in 2013. This could have a negative impact on overall gross domestic product growth in...

-Economic and Political Weekly   The runaway growth in states of subsidised solar pumps, which provide quality energy at near-zero marginal cost, can pose a bigger threat of groundwater over-exploitation than free power has done so far. The best way to meet this threat is by paying farmers to "grow" solar power as a remunerative cash crop. Doing so can reduce pressure on aquifers, cut the subsidy burden on electricity companies, reduce...

-Business Standard Total physical stock as on November 1 was 43 mt against the total covered storage capacity of 55 mt For the first time in many years, foodgrain stocks in the central pool are much less than the entire covered storage capacity available with the Food Corporation of India (FCI), thanks to some reduction in procurement and efficient management. This, as some officials said, effectively means the bulk of the rice procured...

Despite high prices of fruits and vegetables, India's area under horticultural crops - mainly fruits, vegetables, spices and flowers - has doubled in around twenty years (between 1991-92 and 2012-13). This has resulted in increase in production of horticultural crops nearly threefold (2.8 times). A new report from the Ministry of Agriculture says that the area under horticultural crops during this period rose from 12.77 million hectares to 23.69 million...

-Tehelka The new and improved Bill to prevent atrocities against Dalits runs the risk of being put in the cold storage A crime against Dalits happens every 18 minutes - three women raped every day, 13 murdered every week, 27 atrocities every day, six kidnapped every week and so on. This is the data compiled by the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, an NGO, which paints a grim picture of Indian...