-ANI Chennai: Indian agriculture is at the cross roads, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, father of India's first Green Revolution, has warned. Lamenting on the state of Indian farmers, especially farmers with small land-holdings, Dr. Swaminathan said, "The market economy certainly is not friendly to small farmers. WTO regulations are also hindrance. Even in the United States which is the heartland of the free market economy, farmers are insulated from market shocks through heavy...

-Business Today Food security and nutrition concerns are putting an ancient, climate-smart grain back on our plates. Farm to fork, there's been a revival of interest in millet. Who would have believed that a rice-obsessed state like Tamil Nadu will so easily embrace another grain - that too, the lowly millet. If you need proof, just zip across to a tiny lane opposite the Adyar bus depot in Chennai. It houses Prems...

-The Hindu Business Line Probably yes, says Chennai blogger tracking weather from 1950 Thiruvananthapuram: When does an El Nino (warming of the east and equatorial Pacific) create widespread rain deficit over India during the monsoon? K Srikanth, Chennai-based blogger and weather enthusiast, has found from a study that between 1950 and 2012, five years have seen 50 per cent or more meteorological divisions suffer deficit rainfall. Carry-over nino “If one observes the pattern, these years...

-IANS NEW DELHI: At least 38 Indian cities lie in high-risk seismic zones and nearly 60 percent of the subcontinental landmass is vulnerable to earthquakes. Barring rare exceptions, such as the Delhi Metro, India's hastily-built cities are open to great damage from earthquakes. The earthquake that devastated Nepal on saturday and jolted northern India, damaging buildings as far apart as Agra and Siliguri, was expected by geologists, who have warned of more...

-Business Standard Says company failed to start construction in stipulated 6 months; company blames state for delay in approvals Chennai: Beverage company Coca-Cola has decided to withdraw its Rs 500-crore investment in Tamil Nadu and has asked the state government to refund money already pumped into the project. The development comes 31 days before the Tamil Nadu Global Investors’ Meet. A state government official said it was decided to cancel the land allotted to...