-Outlook Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh government has approved an ambitious plan to provide electricity in 44 Naxal-hit villages of the state with the help of solar energy. Under the plan, 44 Naxal-affected villages of Balaghat, Shahdol, Umaria, Sidhi and Singrauli districts will be electrified by solar energy with an investment of Rs 37.62 crore, official said today. The plan was approved at a meeting chaired by state Energy Minister and New and Renewable Energy...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The government on Friday decided to raise the annual cap on the number of subsidized cylinders per household to 12 from nine after Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi gave a cue at the AICC session, saying the present ceiling was inadequate for households. Confirming that the cap would be raised, oil minister M Veerappa Moily told reporters that a proposal would be taken to the Cabinet shortly....

-Outlook The price of non-subsidised cooking gas (LPG), which customers buy after consuming their quota of subsidised cylinders, was hiked by a steep Rs 220 per bottle today on firming international rates. The 14.2-kg cooking gas cylinder that consumers buy beyond their entitled nine bottles at subsidised rates, will now cost Rs 1,241, up from Rs 1,021 in Delhi, state-owned fuel retailers said. This is the third increase in non-subsidised LPG rates in...

-World Resources Institute India struggles with water scarcity, a problem that poses especially huge implications for the country's food security and rural livelihoods. The country has long-battled its scarcity issues through Watershed Development, a participatory approach to improve water management through afforestation and reforestation, sustainable land management, soil and water conservation, water-harvesting infrastructure, and social interventions. But while watershed development has been employed in communities throughout India, its potential long-term costs...

-Outlook Costly vegetables, particularly potato and onion, pushed the November wholesale inflation to a 14-month high of 7.52 per cent, making it difficult for the Reserve Bank to ease key policy rate. Vegetable prices shot up by 95.25 per cent in November as compared to 78.38 per cent in the previous month, said the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) inflation data released today. The overall inflation in the food segment comprising wheat, pulses, vegetables,...