-The Hindu ‘El Niño conditions petering out’ New Delhi: There’s unlikely to be a drought in 2019 as the El Nino — a climate phenomenon linked to drying up of the monsoon rains in India — is likely to peter out by the beginning of the monsoon, according to a forecast on Monday by private weather forecaster Skymet. “The El Niño conditions were on the rise in the Pacific Ocean till December last....

-The Indian Express In the first THRee months of PMJAY — until November 24, 2018 — 6,900 claims had been submitted for cataract surgeries even though they are done for free under the National Blindness Control Programme (NBCP). IN THE first trimming of the Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana since its launch, the National Health Authority (NHA) is planning to remove procedures covered under existing national programmes from the list...

-The Hindu Business Line ‘Switch to modern production systems has led to decline in use of farmers’ varieties and landraces’ As few as nine crops account for two-thirds of the global food output, and on-farm crop diversity has declined significantly over the decades as farmers have switched from traditional production systems that utilise farmers’ varieties and landraces to modern production systems depending on officially released varieties, shows a report on global biodiversity...

-The Hindu Business Line Despite a lively debate in recent weeks on whether food prices have now moved to being structurally low, analysts believe that this is only a transient phenomenon and food prices, on a sequential basis, have already begun to rise. Retail inflation may be at an 18-month low but prices, especially of food items, are likely to see a pick-up over the next few months with average inflation expected...

-The Indian Express He claimed that around 12 crore farmers would benefit from the scheme and an amount of Rs 75,000 crore would be given under this scheme every year. Gorakhpur: DESCRIBING THE Congress, SP and BSP as “maha-milawati (highly adulterated)” and accusing them of “cheating farmers” for political gains, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday launched the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojna (PM-KISAN) with the promise of including those who...