Prez awards states with record foodgrain production

Jan 15 President Pranab Mukherjee today said, boosting Agriculture is the key for achieving food and nutrition security, employment generation and higher sustainable economic growth. Giving away the Krishi Karman Awards to the States for record food grain production at the Rashtrapati Bhavan today, Mr. Mukherjee said, it is the collective responsibility of the centre and states alongwith other stake holders to ensure that Agriculture is given priority and becomes economically viable. The President urged to ensure that farmers get proper renumeration, credit made available and also uninterrupted power, water, fertilizers, market acess and information are easily accessible to the farming community.Mr.Mukherjee said, he was happy that the consequtive two year record food production is a unique achievement. He said, better technology, crop diversification, use of disease free high yeilding variety seeds, accurate sattelite weather forecasts are vital for further optimising farm out put. He said this is necessary for Agriculture sector to achieve the 4 per cent growth during 12th plan period. Our correspondent reports, Madhya Pradesh won the Krishi Karman Award for best performance under the category for states with total food grain production above 10 million lakh tonnes. Tamilnadu grabbed the honours for the best performing state with food grains production between one to ten million tonnes. The Krishi Karman Award for Best performing state with food grain production of upto 1 million tonnes was jointly won by Nagaland and Manipur. Speaking on the ocassion Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said, the 258 million tonnes of record food production in 2011-12 is a testimony of the hard work of farmers. Senior BJP Leader L.K Advani and Leader of the Opposition in the Loksabha Sushma Swaraj were also present at the award presentation ceremony

Indian Army prepared to meet any challenge to national security: Gen. Bikram Singh

Jan 15,  1:52 PM Army Chief Gen Bikram Singh today asserted that the Indian Army is prepared to face all challenges to national security and foil the designs of the enemy. Addressing the 65th Army Day parade in Delhi, the Army Chief also flagged the issue of human rights saying the Indian Army's record is the best in the world as far as human rights is concerned. Noting that the Indian Army personnel work in tough terrain like Siachen, Gen.Singh said they discharge their duties in those areas while following the principles of war and human rights. Gen.Singh said the Indian Army has kept its operational preparedness at the highest level in view of various challenges. Talking tough over the killing of two Indian jawans by Pakistan Army on January 8th in Mendhar area of Jammu and Kashmir, the Army Chief had yesterday warned Pakistan that India reserves the right to retaliate at the time and place of its choosing. While talking about the modernisation plan of the Army including the induction of attack helicopters and other equipments in the force, Gen.Singh said at the parade, the force understands the importance of human mind working behind the machine. The Army chief expressed confidence that the Army, the Airforce, the Navy, central paramilitary forces and the police will together provide a strong safety shield to the country. He also talked about plans for construction of rehabilitation homes and one old age home in each command area for the welfare of the Army personnel. Earlier, President, Prime Minister and Defence Minister extended greetings to all serving personnel and ex-servicemen of Army on the day. President Pranab Mukherjee said the boundless contribution of Indian army to nation building is amongst its greatest legacies. He said the day is an occasion for every citizen to offer a prayer for all those gallant soldiers, who made supreme sacrifices in the call of duty. NIA raids two MP villages in connection with probes & seize several items Jan 15 In Madhya Pradesh, a team of the National Investigation Agency - NIA yesterday raided two villages situated on the outskirts of Indore. These raids were conducted in connection with the investigation of Sunil Joshi murder case and Malegaon and Mecca Masjid blasts. A team of around forty officers simultaneously raided Mandlavada and Dakchiya villages and carried out intensive searches and seized several items. NIA also detained a person, who is reported to be an acquaintance of Sunil Joshi, the master mind of Samjhauta Express blast.