-PTI Retail inflation was at 8.83 per cent in February on account of higher prices of protein based items and edible oil products.  Retail inflation, based on the Consumer Price Index, was 7.65 per cent the January, as per the government data release here today.  Among other items, only vegetable prices saw a decline of 4.73 per cent over the February 2011 level.  During the month, the prices of egg, meat and fish rose...

-The Hindu Business Line   Hubli: Radiation and chemical-induced mutation and subsequent use in recombination breeding at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has resulted in the release of 39 improved crop varieties in oilseeds and pulses in India, said Dr Ratan Kumar Sinha, Director, BARC, Mumbai. Delivering the 25th Annual Convocation address of the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka, Dr Sinha said nuclear techniques in agriculture is particularly helpful in creating new...

-PTI   The government on Thursday approved setting up of a national centre for cold chain development and allocated a one-time grant of Rs 25 crore for its corpus fund. The decision comes in the wake of post harvest losses to the tune of Rs 50,000 crore annually in absence of proper storage facilities. "The Union Cabinet today gave its ex-post facto approval for registering National Centre for Cold Chain Development (NCCD) as a...

-The United Nations   India is receiving a loan of nearly $90 million from the United Nations to improve agricultural livelihoods in the small north-western state of Uttarakhand, one of the poorest areas in the country. The money, resulting from an agreement signed today between the Government and the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), will go towards the Integrated Livelihoods Support Project, which aims to support and develop the food production...

Indian traders reject FDI in multi-brand retail and emphasise the need for a policy to regulate the labour-intensive sector. TRADERS across the country responded angrily to the Union Cabinet's decision to allow 51 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail trade, disproving the arguments of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and the assessment of corporate India, which had tried hard to make it appear that traders and...