-The Indian Express Schemes to ensure that farmers get fair returns will come a croppper unless trade and tariffs are synced with minimum support prices. With farm prices of several commodities falling way below their minimum support prices (MSPs) in 2016-17 and 2017-18, farmers have been under increasing stress. The Centre and several state governments are searching for ways and MEAns to support farmers. In his recent address (Mann ki Baat), the...

-The Hindu Only 44% of households in Bihar, U.P. use toilets 100% of the time: survey Kerala and Mizoram top the list of States, with 100% of households which do not practise open defecation, while Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are at the bottom of the rankings, with less than 44% of such households, The Hindu’s analysis of the raw data generated by a government-commissioned survey finds. Sixty eight per cent of rural households...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Centre has said it is examining the "desirability of filing a review petition" against last week's Supreme Court order diluting the SC-ST Act, ending days of dithering amid mounting pressure from allies and Dalit BJP parliamentarians. "I have instructed my ministry to examine the desirability of filing a review in this case. Appropriate actions are being taken," Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said at a news...

-The Times of India Thiruvananthapuram: The efforts of district NREGA cell to recreate assets to deal with possible drought situation have produced good results in some of the rural panchayats in the district.   Construction of farm ponds which was extensively carried out under employment guarantee scheme has gifted the district with over 2,000 farm ponds in areas where agriculture is the predominant occupation. The move also triggered a shift from the usual...

-The Telegraph MP markets black chicken on mobile app Bhopal: Cock a doodle, er Google, do. The Madhya Pradesh government has launched a mobile app, available on Google Play Store from Thursday, to market a rare chicken breed - the Kadaknath - whose delicious black MEAt is in high demand for its nutritious content and purported aphrodisiac and medicinal properties. Through the Android app - MP Kadaknath - fowl MEAt and egg will be...