-The Hindustan Times In 2009, when India had its worst drought in three decades in terms of rainfall, the country managed to produce a million more tonnes of foodgrains than it did in 2007, a normal year. Droughts, such as the one that has now settled in nearly half of the country, are no longer the disaster they used to be, thanks to one of the world's most efficient drought management systems.   Largely indigenous...

-The Business Standard Consumers say they cannot buy branded FMCG items in mobile phones, customers opt for low-end handsets while retaining brand loyalty Last year, Ashok Das, a farmer-cum-fisherman from the small industrial town of Rishra in the Hooghly district of West Bengal, had promised his younger son a branded television. But last year’s bad crop output and this season’s deficient monsoon made him change his plans and finally settle on a...

-The Hindu Entire concept of APL and BPL population needs to be scrapped, says Karat The Left parties began here on Monday a five-day sit-in against price rise and to demand the right to food through a universal public distribution system (PDS). Addressing the participants, who had come from Haryana and Delhi, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat said the government’s thrust should be on giving people access to cheap...

-The Hindustan Times Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has directed key ministries to coordinate with states to manage the crisis arising out of the weak monsoon this year. Rains continue to be 22% deficient. India’s monsoon deficit could crimp food output and hit farm income, which supports a third of the population, hiking inflation risk. “The Prime Minister has been apprised of the situation. He has directed all the departments and ministries to coordinate...

-The Hindustan Times Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has directed key ministries to coordinate with states to manage the crisis arising out of the weak monsoon this year. Rains continue to be 22% deficient. India’s monsoon deficit could crimp food output and hit farm income, which supports a third of the population, hiking inflation risk. “The Prime Minister has been apprised of the situation. He has directed all the departments and ministries to coordinate...