-The Times of India Private companies have hijacked the government's flagship scheme to provide food to poor children and their mothers, the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), with contractors in Maharashtra alone controlling Rs 1,000 crore worth of supplies in contravention of Supreme Court orders, a report of the SC commissioners office has said. The SC orders bar contractors from supplying rations under the scheme. It only permits village communities, self-help groups...

-IANS Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's dream of India's second green revolution taking off from Bihar seems to be coming closer to reality. A young farmer of Darveshpura village in his native Nalanda district has set what is claimed to be a world record in potato production through organic farming.  Three months ago, a group of farmers in the same village had created a "world record" producing 224 quintals of paddy per hectare...

-The Hindu   With an RTI application revealing that former Union Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar had written to the Prime Minister's Office as early as September 2007 warning of impending disaster in the conduct of the Commonwealth Games, NGO Hazards Centre has criticised the Union Government for not acting upon it and conducting an inquiry. Mr. Aiyar wrote the letter after studying a report prepared by the Hazards Centre on expenditure,...