The Business Standard The Planning Commission has not been central to the policymaking process since the mid-1960s In his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the end of the Planning Commission. There will be few mourners at its funeral, mainly old war horses like me. So this is in the nature of an obituary for an institution in which I served for a decade and a half, and where I...

-The Business Standard Four sub missions have been merged into one scheme - agri extension, seed and planting material, agri mechanisation and plant protection and plant quarantine   Mumbai: The ministry of agriculture has introduced an umbrella scheme to augment agricultural extension and technology activities with the objective of improving the supply of the agricultural commodities from the grass root level. According to official sources, the impetus on agricultural extension has to go hand...

-PTI Ahmedabad: Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel on Sunday appealed to people to focus on building centralised kitchens to feed children instead of constructing temples. "If we can provide quality food to children under the mid-day meal scheme, we can drastically reduce the dropout ratio. I believe that it's better to build kitchens to feed children than building temples," Ms. Patel said, inaugurating a fully-automated kitchen, built by an NGO, The Akshaya...

-The Hindu Among various cash crops, turmeric has a potential market value all through the year since it is mainly used as a value added product. Erode is a turmeric cultivating hub in Tamil Nadu and almost all farmers in the region are growing this crop. But the main issue with this crop is that like paddy, it is labour intensive. A huge labour force is required for weeding, earthing, fertilizer application, harvesting...

-Sikh24.com AKHORA-In what has become known as Punjab's suicide belt, men may be the ones taking their lives in an instant, but women are increasingly at risk of suffering over the long term. A blue and white wooden sign marks the "stitching room" in the Gurdwara in the small village of Bakhora. The walls of the room are aligned with hand-drawn posters illustrating steps to making a "ladies kameez," or tunic. Samples...