-The Financial Express Despite the delayed monsoon and slow progress in sowing, the government on Monday set a 30 million tonne (mt) rice procurement target for the 2014-15 kharif marketing season, starting October. Despite the delayed monsoon and slow progress in sowing, the government on Monday set a 30 million tonne (mt) rice procurement target for the 2014-15 kharif marketing season, starting October. This is a moderate revision from the previous year's kharif...

-Tehelka Bureau Though well-meaning, the new Land Acquisition Act is far from being a perfect legislation. But the urgency to amend a law even before a real field test signals a larger agenda. By all counts, this was expected. Long before he became the BJP and subsequently the nation's chosen one, Narendra Modi had made it clear that his model of development gains from the ease of doing business. Then, days ahead...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: India continues to lag on human development indicators in spite of a slew of welfare programmes, with a UNDP report released today ranking it 135th among 187 countries that were judged on progress in areas such as life expectancy, education, income and employment.   Analysts blame India's poor performance on lack of accountability in implementation of the welfare programmes. Former National Advisory Council member N.C. Saxena said state governments...

-The Hindu The Centre has launched a major war against Japanese encephalitis which claims hundreds of young lives and causes high morbidity among children in several States across the country during monsoon. Within weeks of taking over, Union Health and Family welfare Minister, Dr Harsh Vardhan said that his priority would be to ensure 100 per cent immunisation against the killer disease. Expressing extreme distress over the "runaway conquest of encephalitis," Dr Harsh...

-Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Water Resources As per the information collected in the 4th Minor irrigation Census (2006-07), the total number of water bodies used for irrigation in the country was 523816. Out of this, the number of water bodies in use and not in use is 443688 and 80128 respectively. As per the constitution, water, inter-alia including water bodies is a State subject and any corrective measures for removal of...