SHILLONG, Oct 21: The public information campaign (PIC) on Bharat Nirman of the Central Government was inaugurated by Jaintia Hills district Deputy Commissioner T Dkhar at the LP School playground, Amlarem today.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday and requested him to provide `2,351 crore aid for flood relief in the affected areas and approve pending projects of the State Government.

The CM demanded the Centre should approve projects worth `5962 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and `9,700 crore for the Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojana

Two-day workshop has been organised at Bhopal from October 19 to discuss the procedure to make available home to the poor and homeless under Chief Minister Rural Housing Mission. This workshop will be held at the Academy of Administration.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has rejected the Planning Commission

Madhya Pradesh is the first state in the country where farmers will be given relief on crop failure.

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Tuesday identified 10,440 villages, spread over 15 of 30 districts, as drought-hit as more than 50 per cent of paddy crop was lost due to inadequate rainfall this monsoon.

The affected farmers in 10,440 villages and urban pockets will get compensation as announced by the state government earlier, revenue and disaster management minister Surya Narayan Patra

Chandigarh: Nine villages of Fatehgarh Saheb in Punjab are looking forward to integrated self-help community development projects with the help of the University of Utah and the School for Public Health of PGI.

The University of Utah, USA, chief of public health Steve Alder said after an exploratory visit last year, the team had selected a local NGO, Mehar Baba Charitable Trust (MBCT), and the

Dryland farming has come to the rescue of drought-hit farmers of 22 villages in Gumla, courtesy agriculture scientists of Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) at Gumla, 150 km from Ranchi.

Scientists are advocating dryland farming across Bishunpur, Ghaghra, Gumla, Kamdara and Sisai blocks, distributing seeds that grow well in uplands.

Farmers are sowing seeds of sweet potato, maize, lentils such as ur

AMIT AGNIHOTRI
NEW DELH

Top corporates like the Tata and Reliance groups have chosen to stay away from the government's ambitious plans to provide urban amenities in the rural areas
Top corporates like the Tata and Reliance groups have chosen to stay away from the government

Indian agriculture is already increasingly demand-driven. This will accelerate in future. More than two decades ago, we argued that agricultural diversification in India was basically driven by higher growth and domestic demand. The major impact of faster income growth was on domestic demand, leading a process of demand diversification in a big way.