-Scroll.in The proposed high-speed rail line cuts right through South Gujarat’s prosperous Agri Export Zone, and farmers are not happy In 2007, when the state-owned Gujarat Gas company acquired land in South Gujarat to lay underground gas pipelines, Mahesh Patel lost 130 mango and chikoo trees from his farm in Navsari district. Each fruit tree yielded an average annual profit of Rs 4,000, which meant he lost trees worth Rs 5 lakh...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: India's largest body of doctors claimed on Tuesday that the Centre's proposed National Health Protection Scheme that seeks to reimburse hospitals for cashless services to patients may "eliminate small and medium hospitals" through unrealistic reimbursement rates. The reimbursement rates proposed under the NHPS are "very low" and will make it "impractical" to provide Quality services, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) said, releasing figures from its own costing exercise...

-Firstpost.com Chandigarh: With the planting of the new paddy crop underway in Punjab, Balour Singh of Sangrur district's Channa village is worried about the hourly fee of Rs 150 he needs to pay his neighbour for supplying water to his fields. Being a marginal farmer, Singh doesn't own a borewell and has to depend on others for water, which is something his paddy crop needs in plenty. But water isn't Balour Singh's...

-The Hindu Business Line In view of the distortions arising out of excessive price support, direct income transfers to farmers is a better option The domestic debate has tended to conclude that the rise in MSP announced in the Budget is an essential part of achieving the government’s objective of doubling farm incomes. But MSP stands for minimum support prices and is an instrument designed for reducing income volatility, not for raising...

-The Indian Express Loss of mature trees cannot be made up by planting new ones. Forest Department shows how not to grow a forest. In the spontaneous protests that have erupted in Delhi over the felling of over 16,000 trees in government redevelopment yards, the response from the authorities seems to be: The numbers are exaggerated and, in any case, we’ll plant more trees than are being felled. In a city with the...