Even as the government is contemplating bringing in a new law to deal with the spurt in honour killings, reports by human rights organisations show that cold-blooded murders in the name of saving family pride had been prevalent in many parts of the world. Honour killings have been rampant in orthodox and socially backward groups in many countries including India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Turkey, Jordan and the Palestinian Territories, they say....

Sugar millers are cancelling import contracts due to a drop in domestic prices and are unlikely to sign new deals on expectations of a surge in local output, a top industry official told Reuters. The contracts had been signed late last year and early this year when domestic sugar prices rose to a record and the production outlook was lower. Since then the price has fallen by a third and the...

In the wake of runaway inflation and the ensuing food crisis, the prime minister constituted three high-powered committees of chief ministers and central ministers to recommend ways of containing inflation, improving PDS and boosting agricultural production. The Working Group on agricultural production was chaired by Haryana chief minister B S Hooda, with CMs of West Bengal, Punjab and Bihar as members. Tucked away, largely unnoticed by the Indian media, as...

The ASIa-Pacific region – home to two-thirds of the world’s one billion malnourished people – must see growth in agricultural investment to tackle the hunger challenge, a senior United Nations official stressed today. The number of hungry people in ASIa and the Pacific climbed by more than 60 million in 2009 to 642 million, Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said in a video message...

The West Bengal government has allocated Rs 250 crore for introducing a scheme for generating employment for the urban youth, on the lines of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. State Finance Minister ASIm Dasgupta said that funds allocated for this purpose this year may be augmented according to requirement. Similar schemes have been declared in Tripura and Kerala as well. The scheme, announced by Dr Dasgupta during his budget...