Agricultural scientist-economist Prof. Swaminathan will move a private member’s bill in the Rajya Sabha that seeks access to water, credit and inputs for women farmers.

The Women Farmers' Entitlement Bill, 2011, has been submitted to the Rajya Sabha, according to Prof. Swaminathan.

The White House has begun an aggressive campaign to use approaching Supreme Court arguments on the new health care law as a moment to build support for the measure seen as President Obama’s signature legislative achievement, hoping to shape public opinion on an issue at the center of the battle for the White House and Congress.

Insurance commissioners in California, New York and Washington State will require that companies disclose how they intend to respond to the risks their businesses and customers face from increasingly severe storms and wildfires, rising sea levels and other consequences of climate change, California’s commissioner said Wednesday.

Up until this point, those states required about a third of larger insurers to turn over the information in a survey; for all others it was voluntary.

Insurance industry damage claims from natural disasters like the earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand reached a record $105 billion in 2011, said Munich Re, the world's biggest reinsurer.

The cost to insurers from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March, which caused nearly 16,000 deaths, was estimated at $35-$40 billion, the company said on Wednesday in a review of last year's natural disasters.

An earthquake in New Zealand in February added a further $13 billion to insurers' claims payout for the year, Munich Re said.

Agrarian Services and Wildlife Minister S M Chandrasena said that, the government has allocated around Rs 1,120 million for the protection of wild elephants in budget 2012. The ministry has drawn up a plan to launch a sustained programme to protect elephants with immediate effect, he said.

The budget has allocated Rs 400 million to develop the Vilpatthu National park, he said.

Almost four years have passed since the government introduced the National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (NAIS) in the state to assist the farmers suffering losses due to natural calamities like rains, floods and droughts. However, there is just one man handling the implementation work in the entire Jammu region with 10 districts.

Wildfires are raging across central Texas, compounding drought that has caused $5.2bn in agricultural losses and led ranchers in the largest cattle-producing US state to rush to slaughter.

At the weekend, the Texas Forest Service responded to 63 new fires, many fanned by winds from tropical storm Lee.

Texas has been in drought for a year, with more than 3.6m acres burnt in wildfires since the fire season began in November. A record number of 38C days has dried grass and hay, leaving ranchers with no choice but to sell cows for slaughter.