-Outlook Bhavnagar (Gujarat): Driven by abject poverty, three members of a family, including two girls, allegedly committed suicide behind the railway quarters here today, police officials said. "Fed up with financial crisis, Asha Parmar (35) today committed suicide by consuming poisionous substance along with her two daughters Jaishree (9) and Bhavika (4). Before taking the extreme step, she also made her two daughters consume the poisonous substance," Delta 'B' Division police inspector...

-The Business Standard Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on the launch of the second phase of the Mukhya Mantri Annapurna Yojana, ahead of the Centre's proposed food security legislation. Edited excerpts of an interview with Sanjay Jog: * What are the key features of the second phase of the Mukhya Mantri Annapurna Yojana (MAY), launched from this month? This will benefit 35 million people, including 5.5 mn below the poverty line...

-The United Nations Given the right conditions and targeted support, small farmers can unleash a new and sustainable agricultural revolution, the United Nations environment agency a partner agricultural development organization reported today on the eve of World Environment Day. According to the report, Smallholders, Food Security and the Environment, an estimated 2.5 billion people who manage 500 million smallholder farm households provide over 80 per cent of the food consumed in much...

-The Hindu Steep rise in inputs and uncertainty over water availability are among factors Chennai: More and more small and marginal farmers are selling their meagre landholdings to become agricultural workers. This is how agriculturists, policy-makers and economists explain the finding in the Census for Tamil Nadu: Between 2001 and 2011, the strength of cultivators declined and the number of agricultural workers went up. In the 10-year period, there was a fall of...

-The Times of India BANGALORE: If you thought only impoverished districts in Karnataka were marrying off their little girls, you're wrong. The women and child welfare department gets at least four cases of child marriage every week in the IT city. And these figures are going up every month. Officials of the Child Marriage Prohibition Cell of the department were shocked when they got a complaint of a panchayat development officer (PDO)...