-IANS The government will be soon introducing interactive voice response systems together with various other methodologies of integrating buyer-seller platforms through mobile apps to make mobile telephony the most potent and omnipresent tool for agriculture governance, administration and development, an official said. "A large, stupendous scope of work is on the anvil to reach out to the farmer and to change his life," said Additional Secretary, Agriculture, Raghav Chandra at the inaugural...

-The Hindu The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), under the instructions of the Prime Minister’s Office, has undertaken a pilot project to implement the Gujarat human resources management model in two Central government agencies. The proposal for System of Application of Technology for Human Resources Improvement (SATHI) application was approved by the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in 2012, developed by IT major Infosys and launched by Chief Minister Anandiben...

-The Hindu The tragic Nepal quake is an opportunity to learn and understand the threats of great temblors. The Nepal earthquake of April 25 is the largest in the Himalayan region since the 1934 quake which measured 8.2 on the Richter scale and destroyed not only parts of central Nepal but also the plains of northern Bihar in India. Mahatma Gandhi, shaken by the Bihar tragedy, wrote in the Harijan that the...

-Press Information Bureau/ Cabinet The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today gave its approval to a comprehensive New Urea Policy 2015 for the next four financial years. The Policy has multiple objectives of maximizing indigenous urea production and promoting energy efficiency in urea units to reduce the subsidy burden on the Government. Savings in energy shall reduce the carbon-footprint and would thus be more environment friendly....

A recent press release from the Ministry of Agriculture shows that the area affected by recent rains and hailstorms is estimated to be 189.81 lakh hectares (on 24 April 2015), which is nearly double the total area affected that was earlier estimated on 16 April 2015. (See the link below). Experts argue that such extreme weather events may severely damage food economy of the nation, apart from breaking the spirit...