-The Indian Express Also on the CEGC member-list is Sudhir Aggarwal, a BJP member who is “founder-president, Confederation of Voluntary Organizations” and who describes himself as a “swayam sevak since childhood” on his website. New Delhi: The editor of RSS publication Panchjanya, members of a few Hindu spiritual organisations and the CEO of a drone company are among people drafted as “non-official members from various states” in the apex body responsible for...

-The Financial Express How can the cotton and soybean farmers of Vidarbha and Marathwada supplement their incomes so they can get out of the trap of debt and self-engineered death? That was the theme of Union minister Nitin Gadkari’s ninth edition, four-day agricultural exhibition at Nagpur, called Agrovision, to which I was invited.  A promising beginning has been made. In October last year, the National Dairy Development Board commenced operations. It...

-IANS UDAIPUR: Farming has rarely been a viable proposition in Rajasthan's dry and hilly Udaipur region. A new way has now been found to provide sustainable sustenance for the area's tribals by enabling them to sell -- for a staggering Rs 189 crore ($29 million) in the last two years -- minor forest produce (MFP) that is abundant in the area and has remained unutilised for almost nine decades. According to officials,...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: Two information officers who helped make public RTI documents on land allotment to Baba Ramdev's Patanjali Ayurveda in March this year, were transferred less than a fortnight later, raising questions on whether the officials were penalised for their actions. On March 8, TOI had reported on the shunting of IAS officer Bijay Kumar from the finance department shortly after he questioned the basis of a 75% discount...

-Firstpost.com Baba Ramdev's Ptanjali Ayurved Ltd is all set to win a multi-crore contract to manage mid-day meals in Uttar Pradesh schools, according to people in the know. Ramdev and his men have been actively lobbying for the Rs 700-crore contract in New Delhi, reaching out to influential cabinet ministers and making representations as to why the group is best placed to execute the project, the sources said. The contract is currently...