-The Hindu "Rs. 40,000-crore component is for the whole country" The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is not going to restrict the implementation of MGNREGA to a few pocket of the country, the new Minister for Rural Development Chaudhary Birendra Singh, said on Tuesday. Mr. Singh was responding to questions over whether the government was planning to restrict the scheme's implementation to only tribal and poor areas - 2500 blocks of all States -...

-Business Standard Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says India's proposals will be now reviewed by the WTO General Council Washington: India has reached an agreement with the United States on public stockpiling of food, trade minister Nirmala Sithamaran said on Thursday, paving the way for the implementation of a global trade facilitation deal that has been stalled for months. Under the pact with Washington, India will lift a veto on a global agreement on...

-The Telegraph More than 200 agro-meteorologists from various parts of the country attending an IMD review meeting at Birsa Agricultural University (BAU) maintained that accurate weather and climate information passed on by the Met department had helped farmers in a big way. Addressing the 8th annual review meeting of India Meteorological Department, BAU vice chancellor George John said weather forecast-based agro-advisory services of IMD and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) had...

-PTI India may finally sign the WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement following discussions with the US on the details of an indefinite "peace clause" on food security, according to a research paper discussing the effectiveness of the upcoming G20 summit. The study paper by Melbourne-based think-tank Australia India Institute (AII) titled ‘The G20: Challenges and opportunities Ahead', said following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US and his talks with US President...

-The Economic Times For one who had worked so closely to frame the world's largest job guarantee programme, known as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, it's not easy to see it succumb to pressure. It's no wonder that economist-cum-activist Jean Dreze will raise his voice against this, along with eminent academics such as Pranab Bardhan and Maitreesh Ghatak. Dreze says corruption related to NREGA and leakages - its...