-Outlook Foodgrains production in 2012-13 will be lower than last year's record output of 257.44 million tonnes but availability would be sufficient to meet domestic demand, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said today. Addressing the Economic Editors Conference, he said the government would make efforts to compensate the projected fall in kharif foodgrains output during the ongoing rabi season. "This year, production will definitely be less than last year. Last year was exceptional year,...

-The Indian Express Ten kilometres from Jodhpur city, on a sultry afternoon under a flapping tent, a baby girl is born to Sadhu and Radha. People crowd around and peer into the tent to congratulate the couple. Someone in the crowd says, “The first Indian among us, she should be named Bharati.” The suggestion is met with nods of approval and cheers of “Bharati”. Over the last one month, the makeshift tent...

-Outlook To protect BPL families from possible price rise, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today gave its approval for selling imported pulses and edible oil at subsidised rates through ration shops. The CCEA also approved an outlay of Rs 884 crore for computerisation of public distribution system (PDS) that is aimed at, among other things, elimination of bogus ration cards. Announcing the decisions, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said, "The CCEA today...

-Tehelka Policy flaw lets private players jack up prices and siphon off massive government subsidies. TO DROUGHTS and abject poverty, farmers can add another crisis: sky-rocketing fertiliser prices. The issue has prompted eight chief ministers of large states to seek the intervention of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers (MoCF) in the matter. Consider, for example, di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) and muriate of potash (MoP), two fertilisers that used to have massive demand...

-Reuters Supreme Court has suspended iron ore transportation in western Goa and asked for a report into illegal mining in the state in four weeks, Justice Aftab Alam said on Friday. Goa state had already suspended mining activities there in September. The top court has asked the Central Empowered Committee to submit a report on illegal mining in Goa in four weeks, the judge added. Goa is the country's second-biggest iron ore producing...