-The Telegraph The wheat has to be saved, so joust over jute. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee today assured Opposition leaders he had asked Bengal to increase production of jute bags after shortage of facilities to store this year’s bumper wheat crop rocked the Lok Sabha. Mukherjee said he had spoken to Bengal industries minister Partha Chatterjee and urged him to ensure uninterrupted production to ensure that the supply of jute sacks increased by...

The same full page appeared twice in three years, the first time as news, the second time as an advertisement “Not a single person from the two villages has committed suicide.” Three and a half years ago, at a time when the controversy over the use of genetically modified seeds was raging across India, a newspaper story painted a heartening picture of the technology's success. “There are no suicides here and people...

The Union government has decided to intensify its operations against the CPI (Maoist) by launching the third and fourth phase of its multi-winged, coordinated stratagem to squeeze the expanse of what the Naxalites now refer to as the ‘ring of fire' (part of the red corridor). However, several ministries are not extending any cooperation. Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh raised the issue in his letter to Prime Minister Manmohan...

-The Hindu Chauhan sees injustice in FCI failure to lift quota Madhya Pradesh has had a bumper wheat harvest this rabi season, so much so the State does not have enough gunny sacks to pack the procured produce. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan on Wednesday called on Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution K.V. Thomas in New Delhi and complained of the shortage. Mr. Thomas assured him that...

As part of its efforts to forecast monsoon better, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) will incorporate readings from one of the latest US climate forecast models that is being improved for Indian conditions. IMD will release its monsoon forecast for this year in the middle of next week, while weather experts from South Asia gathered in Pune will come out with their forecast for the South Asian region on Friday. Advanced countries...