-PTI   Wheat production is expected to cross 86 million tonnes to set a new record in the ongoing 2011-12 crop year, boosted by a good monsoon and a likely rise in support prices, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said today.  Wheat production in India, the world's second-largest producer, stood at a record 85.93 million tonnes in the 2010-11 crop year (July-June). Wheat is only grown in the rabi season (winter).  "Indications are that rabi...

-The Telegraph   Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh today opposed sharing of certain “privileged” and “secret” matters under the right to information (RTI) law, echoing CABinet colleagues Salman Khurshid and M. Veerappa Moily. “Ministers write to the Prime Minister on a variety of issues. There has to be a concept of secrecy in government,” Ramesh said. According to Ramesh, communications leading to a CABinet decision or a policy decision of the government should be...

-The Economic Times   The government on Tuesday said it would confer constitutional status on the proposed Lokpal , embracing the idea mooted by Rahul Gandhi.  "We are working on a very strong Lokpal bill. A Lokpal bill that will come with a constitutional amendment . That amendment will give the Lokpal the status of a constitutional authority," law minister Salman Khurshid told PTI on Tuesday.  Khurshid, who gave Rahul the credit for the...

-The Hindu   ‘Experts will address safety concerns' Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday promised to set up an expert group to address the “legitimate concerns” of those protesting the Kudankulam nuclear power plant, but he has also clearly indicated that the project would go forward. Dr. Singh, who met a multi-party delegation from Tamil Nadu as well as activists and citizen representatives, assured them that “the government will not compromise on safety in...

The Congress has decided to adopt a cautious approach to suggestions coming from within the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government that the Right to Information (RTI) Act be re-examined as it affects government functioning. On Friday, party spokesperson Manish Tewari — in response to a question whether changes were being contemplated in the seminal Act — stressed it was important for the ongoing debate on the issue “to play itself...