-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Supreme Court today issued notices to the Centre and seven states, including Bengal, on a plea for return of 45,782 hectares of agricultural land acquired from farmers in the name of creating special economic zones (SEZs) but allegedly diverted by the promoters for other purposes. The petition filed through the SEZ Farmers' Protection Welfare Association of Andhra Pradesh seeks the return of unused land to the farmers...

-The Economic Times PUNE: Pulses traders have demanded lifting of the decade-old ban on export of the commodity as prices of all varieties, except chana, have fallen below the minimum support price (MSP). They have cautioned that if prices continue to remain subdued, farmers might shift to other crops. “The government should allow export of pulses to support prices,“ said Bimal Kothari, vice-president of Indian Pulses and Grains Association. India had banned export...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: A nationwide network of farmers today dubbed the demonetisation exercise "the most hurtful scheme since independence" and claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pledges for the agriculture sector announced on December 31 were "a rehash of what already exists". The network of farmers' Associations and representatives from across the country said in a letter sent to the Prime Minister that the demonetisation move had shown a "dismaying disregard"...

-Hindustan Times Water management should be at the heart of all smart city planning. While there is a lot of emphasis on transportation and infrastructure development, water management remains limited to treatment of waste water, quality monitoring, and smart metering in the government’s smart cities strategy. No clear plans have emerged on how smart cities are to be linked with their water catchments to ensure sustainable provision of water. More clarity is...

-Scroll.in The Kisan Sangh demanded that the government waive the interest on their farm loans for the current season. Farmers in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur district gave away their vegetables for free on Monday to protest against the impact of demonetisation on their businesses, PTI reported. Nearly 30,000 citizens queued up in the Dharna Sthal area as over 1 lakh kg of vegetables were handed out, PTI reported. Vegetables prices have gone down drastically in...