New Delhi: In an extraordinary effort at resolving policy disputes, the Union food ministry pleaded before the Supreme Court on Thursday to order the Planning Commission to release funds for reforms in the Public Distribution System (PDS) and to order the rural
development ministry to provide details of how many people in the category of poorest of poor had been left out of PDS.

Bhubaneswar: Anticipating power shortfall in the upcoming summer months, the Grid Corporation of Odisha (Gridco) is in the process of striking power banking deals with other states to ensure uninterrupted availability of power and tide over the deficit. From April 1, Odisha is set to get 200 MW from northern states like Himachal Pradesh and Haryana through the power banking route. Gridco, the bulk power purchaser, is also in talks with other states like West Bengal and Gujarat to procure power through this mode.

Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) in the country as a whole has come down from 50 to 47 per thousand but in case of Meghalaya, Assam and three other states the same remains well above the national average.

As per the latest Sample Registration System (SRS) bulletin released on Wednesday by the Registrar General of India (RGI), it is noted that the IMR has dropped by 3 points from 50 to 47 infant deaths per 1000 live births during 2010. But in case of Meghalaya the same remains at 55 well over the national average of 47, the report said.

Weeks after the Haryana government asked Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) to return the land it got from the government to set up a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Gurgaon, the company has now asked the state to pay around Rs 1200 crore in return of the 1,383.68 acres. The total claim put forth by the company contains added interest to the Rs 400 crore it paid to the government for the land along with an annuity to the farmers whose lands were acquired.

The government’s plan of ushering in a green revolution in eastern states doesn’t seem to have taken off in the country’s biggest paddy (de-husked) rice producing state of West Bengal. Till January 20, only 50 per cent of the total funds allocated for the state were released by the Centre.

Officials said a reason for the low funds was the lack of fresh proposals from the state.

Innovation in cold chains and warehousing can make the country a leading exporter of horticulture products. Absence of proper cold chains and associated logistics in India leads to wastage of fresh produce to the extent of 25-30%, annual equivalent of over . 50,000 crore. About 30-40% of these losses occur in farmers’ fields and in packing, the remaining in transportation and marketing. A study by Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, revealed that more fruit, vegetables, poultry and dairy products end up in trash bins than on dining tables.

In order to prevent the attack of yellow rust in wheat, farmers in Haryana have for the first time taken to new yellow rust-resistant varieties. Bidding adieu to earlier varieties that were highly susceptible to yellow rust, farmers this time have adopted new varieties like PBW 621 and HD 2967. Officials in the Haryana Agriculture Department informed The Tribune that major transformation had been seen in Panchkula, Ambala, Yamunanagar, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Kaithal and Panipat districts .

The three-day State conference of the CPI (M) which concluded in Bhiwani on Monday passed a resolution lambasting the Haryana Government for its “senseless” land acquisition policy.

Haryana unit secretary Inderjit Singh said not a single Special Economic Zone had come up in the State even though the Bhupinder Singh Hooda regime had claimed that these, when set up, would generate employment for the people.

CHANDIGARH: Cold wave tightened its grip in Punjab and Haryana today as minimum temperatures plummeted in various parts of the two states, going down by as much as six degrees below normal. Narnaul in Haryana was the coldest place in the region where mercury dipped by three notches, recording a bone-chilling low of 1.7 degrees Celsius.

Faridabad/ New Delhi: The Haryana forest department has pushed the demand to bring the hill area including sacred forest in Mangar in Faridabad under the conservation zone. The proposal has been moved even as the state government is giving the final touches to the development plan for 23 Aravali villages which will allow a tourist-cum-entertainment complex in the forest.