-Press Information Bureau (Ministry of Agriculture) The two-day National Conference on Agriculture for Kharif Campaign has come out with detailed strategy for maximising crop production during the coming kharif season. The focus will be on ensuring timely availability of fertilizers and quality seed and also sufficient credit to farmers. Based on inputs from States and the Fertilizer Ministry, it is established that sufficient quantities of fertilizers and seeds are available in...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Supreme Court has criticised political appointments in the top child rights body and stopped fresh entries till the Centre comes up with selection guidelines and issue ads to fill vacancies. The court has given the Union women and child development ministry six weeks to come up with the norms on the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). The bar on appointments will apply till then. "Receiving...

-The Business Standard (Capital Market) The Government is promoting organic farming through various schemes like National Project on Organic Farming (NPOF), National Horticulture Mission (NHM), Horticulture Mission for North East & Himalayan States (HMNEH), National Project on Management of Soil Health and Fertility (NPMSH&F), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) and also Network Project on Organic Farming of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Under NPOF scheme, assistance upto 25% and 33% of...

-The Hindustan Times The recently released Annual Status of Education Report (Aser) 2013, which covers every rural district in India, contains some good but mostly bad news. Enrolment in India's primary schools is still at an impressive 96%, and the number of schools compliant with the Right to Education (RTE) Act norms, such as providing drinking water and usable toilets, continues to rise. But much of this is undermined by a...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: For a country which till recently had a weak civil society movement, India is now witnessing a boom in the NGO sector. With a population of 1.2 billion, the country could well be the land of opportunities for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with the Central Bureau of Investigation conservatively estimating 20 lakh of them already operating in states and union territories. The mind-boggling figures boil down to...