-Hindustan Times A report on sugar price policy for 2015-16 by union agriculture ministry had highlighted that Maharashtra’s sugarcane cultivation, which is less than 4% of the total cropped area, consumes 70% of water needed for irrigation Following criticism over sugarcane crop guzzling potable water, particularly in drought-prone Marathwada, the state government is set to introduce a policy for shifting 50% of sugarcane farming on drip irrigation in the next two years. Statistics...

-Livemint.com An advance review of drought preparedness will help mitigate the impact of any sub-par rains on farmers, says agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh New Delhi: Despite the government’s weather office forecasting a normal south-west monsoon in 2017, agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh on Monday wrote to all state chief minister’s asking them to be ready with contingency PLAns in case of poor rains. An advance review of drought preparedness will help mitigate...

-Business Standard Alleges while govt's providing incentives to corporate houses, cos are cutting jobs for more profit Chennai: The New Democratic Labour Front (NDLF) IT Employees Wing, a trade union, is PLAnning to conduct a protest march next week against what it calls an unjustified dismissal of employees by IT firms. It is looking to represent around 20 employees who have been dismissed from various IT firms with the Tamil Nadu labour...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Supreme Court advocate Prashant Bhushan today urged environment minister Anil Dave to reject a regulatory panel's recommendation to release genetically modified mustard for commercial cultivation, questioning the regulatory process and claims about the PLAnt's superiority. In a letter to Dave, Bhushan cited a Supreme Court hearing on GM crops and described India's regulatory mechanisms for such crops as "farcical". He asked Dave to "withhold" his approval to the...

-Hindustan Times The slide in recruitment from what are considered premier technical institutes reflects the possible impact of the economic downturn in India as also globally One of every three IITians graduating this year either didn’t find a suitable job or wasn’t found suitable for a job through campus PLAcement, official data show, pointing to shrinking employment opportunities for India’s large pool of engineering talent. Only 66% of those who made themselves available...