-IANS Shimla: Himachal Pradesh, WHOse economy largely banks on agriculture and horticulture, aims to develop bio villages by promoting organic farming. The state is also eyeing investment in cold chains. An additional 2,000 hectares will be brought under organic farming and there are plans to develop 200 bio-villages in the next fiscal, a government spokesperson told IANS. He said farmers in the bio-villages would use only bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides and discourage...

-The Times of India BHOPAL: More than Rs 35,000 crore of stashed cash was pulled out of hidden lockers of corporates and individuals and deposited in 25 major banks within 60 days of demonetisation in Madhya Pradesh, reveal documents accessed by TOI. More than 40% of these accounts are under I-T surveillance, say sources. Money in Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana accounts rose by Rs 461 crore after the note ban —...

-The Indian Express BJP candidate Neelam Karwariya, WHOse husband, former BJP MLA Uday Bhan Karwariya, is lodged in Mirzapur district jail, won from Meja seat in Allahabad. Lucknow: Murder accused Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya and Amanmani Tripathi, jailed don Mukhtar Ansari and gangsters Vijay Mishra and Sushil Singh are among over a dozen candidates with criminal backgrounds WHO won this election. While Singh contested on a BJP ticket from Saiyadraza seat...

-The Economic Times blog In every Union Budget presentation, agriculture is given a place of prominence. This is not surprising, given that 50% of India’s population is dependent on agriculture. Budget 2017 was no different. Both the Economic Survey and the Budget speech stressed heavily on improving agricultural infrastructure and augmenting farmer incomes. The key drivers expected to set this off are areas such as investment in irrigation infrastructure, development of mandis...

-Hindustan Times The last few weeks have seen a spate of government notifications making Aadhaar mandatory for receiving the benefits of government programmes. The most recent orders relate to an Aadhaar requirement for children to access schools (even under their fundamental right to education), mid-day meals, supplementary nutrition (ICDS) and scholarships. These directives raise a number of ethical as well as practical questions, besides violating children’s right to education, nutrition and...