-The Hoot Koraput's community radio Dhimsa has become the voice of tribals to convey their messages to the administration Tribals of Koraput, a district in Odisha, may not be able to deliver their complaints and grievances directly to the administration but with the help of community radio jockeys like Julie, Sahadev, Bhakta and Udai, they are definitely heard. Koraput, about 500 kms from Bhubaneswar, may not have many modern facilities, but the tribals...

-Down to Earth UPA gives sops under MGNREGS to attract rural voters ahead of elections WITH most of its recent schemes struggling, a desperate UPA government is pinning its hopes on Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to win votes in 2014 elections. The government is overhauling the employment scheme that helped it return to power in 2009 for a reason. It touches the lives of over 55 per cent...

-The Financial Express Price-policy initiatives and technological innovations show promise, given the record output of pulses in 2013 Rising incomes and urbanisation, unfolding globalisation and changing tastes are leading to diversified consumption baskets. There is greater uptake of dairy products, meat, vegetables and fruits among Indian consumers while the converse is true for cereals and pulses. Amidst these, protein consumption has taken a hit while fat intake has been rising. A recent...

-The Hindu Business Line Hyderabad: Legumes, a crop of poor and small farmers, have got a lending hand from scientists. Farmers will soon be able to get climate change ready chickpea (gram) varieties that can withstand extreme weather conditions. Scientists at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat) have identified 40 lines of germplasm of chickpea with resistance to drought, high temperature and salinity. They had screened about 211 lines...

-PTI Government has provided Rs 70,585 crore as fertiliser subsidy in this year's budget A ministerial panel today recommended increase in fixed cost paid to urea by Rs 350 per tone but there will be no increase in the rate of crop nutrient for farmers as government will subsidise the additional cost, pegged at Rs 900 crore. Fertiliser Ministry had moved the proposal for modified New Pricing Scheme (NPS) III, according to which...