-BBC India's cabinet has approved a bill to allow children over 16 to be tried as adults for crimes like rape and murder. The move follows calls for stricter punishment for juveniles after a 17-year-old was among those convicted of gang rape and murder in Delhi in 2012. At present, juvenile courts can jail those under 18 for at most three years. Under the bill, minors convicted in adult courts would face longer jail...

-PTI UN body for development of agriculture IFAD today said small-holder farmers should be the starting point for sustainable development. Speaking at the 8th TAAS (Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences) foundation lecture, IFAD President, Kanayo Nwanze said, "... We see time and time again the transformation that occurs when development is sustainable and when local people are involved from the start...Our starting point for sustainable agricultural development must be small-holder farmers." Nwanze,...

-The Guardian A UN working group has devised a final draft of targets to succeed the millennium development goals. What do you think of the 17 proposals? The UN working group responsible for crafting the sustainable development goals (SDGs) has handed down its final proposal, adding a goal to address domestic and global inequality. The recommendations include 17 goals and 169 targets to be achieved by 2030. The list includes a reworking of...

-The Telegraph Shillong: Scientists have urged farmers in Meghalaya to adopt "climate-smart agriculture" by adhering to recommended climate change mitigation strategies as various parts of the Northeast are facing a drought-like situation because of global warming. An awareness-cum-training programme on Contingency Plan for Drought-like Situation was held recently at the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) for the northeastern region in Umiam under the National Initiative on Climate Resilient Agriculture project. According to...

-Deccan Chronicle Chennai: "With an estimated 8 billion mouths to feed by 2025, achieving zero hunger by that deadline is indeed challenging and this calls for arriving at precise solutions, particularly in ensuring access to nutritious food, not calories alone," said Dr M.S. Swaminathan, founder chairman of the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), Chennai. "Family farming offers an effective and economic solution to help meet the challenge of making sure that...