DARBHANGA, June 18 -- The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has constituted a new research advisory committee (RAC) for ICAR-National Research Centre (NRC) for Makhana in Darbhanga, appointing noted agricultural scientist Shyam Narayan Jha as its chairman, officials said on Wednesday. The RAC plays a key role in guiding and reviewing research programmes and setting priorities for the ICAR-NRC for makhana, the country's premier institute dedicated to research and development of fox nut (makhana), a crop closely associated with Bihar's Mithila region. The committee includes Manish Anand of Mithila Consumer Goods Pvt Ltd, Madhubani, Rangaraju Visvanathan, former professor of agricultural processing from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu and R Hemalatha, former director of ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition in Hyderabad, Telangana. According to an order issued by the agricultural engineering division of ICAR, New Delhi, the nominations have been made under Rules 71A and 71B of the ICAR Society's rules and by-laws. The committee will remain in force for three years with effect from June 12, 2026....