-The Hindu The programme will cover Hassan, Mysore and Mandya Bangalore: The State government will provide ragi at Re. 1 a kg to below the poverty line (BPL) families in Hassan, Mysore and Mandya districts under the public distribution system (PDS). Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will launch the programme in Nanjangud, Mysore district, on March 1. Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies Dinesh Gundu Rao told presspersons here on Tuesday that the department...

-The Asian Age "The replacement of the rich diversity of Punjab with monocultures of Rice in the kharif season and wheat in the rabi season has also contributed to the impoverishment of the soils and farmers" The year 2014 marks the 30th anniversary of Operation Bluestar, a military operation which took place in June 1984 in Punjab. It was ordered by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to remove Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his...

-The Tribune Punjab: No doubt there is a pressing need to restore the fast deteriorating underground water balance in Punjab and parts of Haryana because of excessive withdrawals of water to meet the irrigation requirements of water-guzzling crops, particularly the Rice crop. In Punjab available canal water hardly meets one-fourth of the water requirements of the agriculture sector and three-fourth water requirements are met through the pumping of underground water. In...

-Outlook Raipur: The CAG has indicted the Chhattisgarh government for diverting around 10 lakh tonnes of foodgrains from the central scheme to the state's Mukhyamantri Khadyan Sahayata Yojna without permission and in violation of Centre's instructions. CAG report on the Public Sector Undertakings for the year ended March 2013, was tabled in the state assembly here today. "At the direction of the Government of Chhattisgarh, the State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited (company) diverted...

-The New York Times BOLLIKUNTA, India - Latha Reddy Musukula was making tea on a recent morning when she spotted the money lenders walking down the dirt path toward her house. They came in a phalanx of 15 men, by her estimate. She knew their faces, because they had walked down the path before. After each visit, her husband, a farmer named Veera Reddy, sank deeper into silence, frozen by some terror...