He will pass out of one of the most sought-after B-schools of the country. While 332 of his friends will get into those cushy jobs, he will work closer to Mother earth — working with farmers and help them produce export-quality fruits and vegetables and finally export them. Ashutosh Sawant, a PGP second year student, has started a firm which looks at exporting frozen fruits like alphonso mangoes, frozen strawberry, pomegranate...

In a unique move to curb corruption in the public distribution system (PDS), ration coupons in Bihar will be bar-coded from June. The next set of PDS coupons —a for June 2011 to May 2012 — has gone into print and will have bar code to prevent duplication. A bar code is a group of thin and thick lines printed on products you buy in a shop, and which a computer...

India is unlikely to lift ban on export of wheat and non-basmati rice in the wake of high food inflation and food security concerns, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has said in its latest report. India had suspended wheat exports in early 2007 and non basmati rice in 2008 due to high inflation in the country. "The government of India may continue to ban exports of wheat and non-basmati rice due...

Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has been able to convey the impression that the agricultural sector was a key area of policy focus for his budget, but just about. He has chosen some good policies and programmes to boost agricultural development, but has done so in a half-hearted manner. Whether the agricultural sector actually benefits from his attention remains to be seen given that he has been niggardly in the...

The need for the media to take voluntary, not paid, ownership of creating awareness for better participation of voters in the election process was recommended at a roundtable on the “Role of media in building voters' awareness” here on Friday. The recommendation was part of a national consultation on voters' participation organised by the Election Commission (EC). Other roundtables at the consultation pertained to fighting urban apathy, connecting with youth in...