Madhya Pradesh has lost 32 sq km of forest cover due to the dam construction, especially on the river Narmada. "Though Madhya Pradesh had a forest cover of 95,411 sq km, the largest in the country, we lost 32 sq km of it due to dams constructed in the state, especially on Narmada ," Madhya Pradesh Forest Minister Sartaj Singh said. The Minister said the agencies pay compensation for deforestration to the...

From No. 2 in the last three years, Bengal has crawled to No. 1 — in the number of rape complaints in the country. The state that was once regarded one of the safest for women has recorded 3,029 rape cases till October this year, displacing Madhya Pradesh that had the highest number in the past three years. According to provisional data being compiled by the women and child development ministry, Bengal...

Volume of silk production may be on the decline in traditional silk cultivating areas in Southern Karnataka districts, thanks to rapid urbanisation and industrialisation. But Central Silk Board's efforts to popularise sericulTure in northern Karnataka districts is paying off, board chairperson H. Hanumantappa has said.Speaking to presspersons after inaugurating the “Silk Mark Expo” here on Wednesday, Mr. Hanumantappa said that farmers in Belgaum, Bidar, Bijapur, Bagalkot, Gulbarga, Gadag and Haveri...

The Chhattisgarh model offers some key lessons on how to make the public distribution system deliverProbably the only thing extraordinary about Manglu is that he is the perfect example of an ordinary tribal. The 60-year-old belongs to the Pahadi Korba tribe and lives in Govindpur village of Sarguja district of Chhattisgarh. He best represents what modern India calls a below poverty line (BPL) beneficiary of various government schemes. Manglu earns...

Farmers in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur district are taking to poultry business as the agriculTure sector has suffered losses. Owing to increasing demand and the profit margins attached to it, growers have taken up poultry farming. To meet the shortage of poultry products in the domestic and international markets ahead of Christmas and New Year, many farmers have Turned to rearing chickens. The export of poultry products has also increased by 49 percent. Om Yadav,...