Agro-forestry hit by lack of policy incentives: President

Development of agro-forestry in India has been hampered by lack of policy incentives, President Pranab Mukherjee said Monday, noting that there was need of innovative models that encourage investment in the sector. Inaugurating the world congress on agro-forestry here, the president said agro-forestry meets almost half of the total demand of 201 million tonnes of […]

Smoking may increase breast cancer risk

Young women who smoke have a significantly higher risk of developing most common type of breast cancer, a study shows. The majority of recent studies evaluating the relationship between smoking and breast cancer risk among young women have found that smoking is linked with an increased risk. The present study, published in the online journal […]

IAEA hails ‘good’ progress in Iran over nuclear deal

A senior official of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Monday hailed “good” progress in talks with Iran over its nuclear energy programme. “Since November everything has gone as planned,” said IAEA Deputy Director General for Safeguards Tero Tapio Varjoranta, adding the progress in cooperation with Tehran was “good”. Varjoranta made the remarks a day […]

Terror violence declined in Omar regime’s tenure: Governor

A decline in terrorist violence, increasing role of state police in law and order duties, new administrative units and overall development across Jammu and Kashmir have been seen in five years of the Omar Abdullah government, Governor N.N. Vohra said Monday. Addressing a joint session of the state legislature, he said the government, which recently […]

Gogoi lashes out at Modi

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi Monday said his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi was an “irresponsible leader” and worker of RSS whose “ideology of hatred” led to Mahatma Gandhi’s death. “Modi is a dedicated worker of the RSS whose ideology of hatred led to the killing of Mahatma Gandhi. I am a dedicated volunteer of Gandhiji,” […]

India completes three years without polio

India has completed three years without polio, a landmark achievement which would pave the way for a polio-free certification from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the health ministry Monday said. The ministry said 40,000 reporting units, including health facilities, annually report 60,000 cases of paralysis to the polio surveillance network – National Polio Surveillance Project. […]

Parliament functions through debate, not disruption, says president

Parliament functions through debate, dissension and decision and not through disruption, President Pranab Mukherjee said Monday, and called on all stakeholders, including government and political parties, to do some introspection. Mukherjee, who Monday unveiled photographs of the presidents of the central legislative assembly and portraits of former Lok Sabha speakers at the Parliament House, said […]

Tania died of serious internal injuries, court told

The Delhi High Court was informed Monday by the city police that 19-year-old Arunachal Pradesh student Nido Tania died because of “serious” internal injuries in the head and the toxicology report came out negative. A division bench of Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw was told by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sidharth […]

Chandrababu Naidu calls on Mamata to discuss federal front

Telugu Desam Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu Monday held discussions with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee about forming a federal front of regional parties opposed to both the Congress and the BJP. Naidu, a former Andhra Pradesh chief minister, called on Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress supremo, at the state secretariat Nabanna in Howrah district. […]