-Livemint.com Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology says there is a 54% probability that rainfall during the monsoon season this year will be 10 mm-per-day more than normal New Delhi: Weather scientists said they may have spotted signs of a normal, if not a good, rainy season this year, sparking hope among farmers and policymakers alike after two successive bad monsoons. With just three weeks to go for the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD’s) much-awaited...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In order to give women wider choice, the government has introduced a mix of birth-control measures, including injectable contraceptives and new oral pills, under the national family planning programme, health minister J P Nadda has said. Age-old condom brand 'Nirodh' has been given a makeover with a new logo and communication strategy, led by Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan as brand ambassador, to give a boost...

-The Hindu Business Line The new scheme offers lower premium, more risk cover and hassle-free settlement Crop insurance schemes have not been a hit with Indian farmers in the past. High premia, limited coverage, complicated ways of assessing losses and delayed payment of compensation have kept farmers away from them. Given the high risk of crop damage in India, with significant loss in food grain production in 18 of the last 54 years...

-Business Standard Instead of addressing systemic problems in agriculture, farm politics in the state is about how much money the government can offer the farmer as a dole The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), led by Parkash Singh Badal and son Sukhbir, was in a dilemma a year before the 2012 Assembly elections in Punjab. The Akalis had ruled Punjab since 2007 but no party had ever returned to power for a second...

-The Hindu Business Line India’s ambitious targets can be met without compromising the financials of discoms, as is feared India’s goal of having 100 GW of solar power by 2022 has already generated a lot of interest, and scepticism. But it’s even more far-reaching part pertains to the fact that 40 GW out of this is going to be based on distributed energy generation, namely solar rooftop systems. These solar rooftop systems could...