-Business Standard Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says India's proposals will be now reviewed by the WTO General Council Washington: India has reached an agreement with the United States on public stockpiling of food, trade minister Nirmala Sithamaran said on Thursday, paving the way for the implementation of a global trade facilitation deal that has been stalled for months. Under the pact with Washington, India will lift a veto on a global agreement on...

-The Indian Express Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala): Infant deaths are still stalking tribal hamlets in Kerala's Attappadi region, where the community's population has been falling alarmingly due to various factors. The recurring incidents of infant deaths have cast a shadow over the survival of tribals in Attappadi. A study had found that tribals formed 90 per cent of population in Attappadi in 1951, but the same was down to 42 per cent in...

-The Times of India Margao: Perhaps for the first time since it was established in 2006, the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in Margao, has undertaken demonstration of newer varieties of paddy in its farm on a large scale, thereby signifying its shift from its earlier role of sustaining and supporting agriculture in the state to research and innovation. In all, 11 new varieties of...

-The Indian Express * Have global agri-commodity pRices fallen? By how much? They have. The Food and Agricultural Organisation's latest Food PRice Index (base: 2002-04 = 100) of 192.3 for October is down 6.9 per cent compared to a year ago, and 19.1% below the all-time high of 237.7 reached in February 2011. PRices of commodities such as corn, wheat, soybean, sugar and palm oil traded in international futures exchanges are today...

-Down to Earth Study finds that black carbon and ozone pollution in India has significantly cut wheat and Rice yield The levels of smog and air pollution in India have become so severe that crop yields are taking a hit. Scientists recently analysed yields for wheat and Rice alongside pollution data, and concluded that the crop yields have significantly reduced. They have attributed the decrease in yield to two air pollutants-black carbon...