-The Hindu The draft Forest Policy re-emphasises production forestry, raising many ecological and social concerns Government policy documents are statements of goals, priorities and strategies. If old strategies have failed or circumstances have changed, they should be revised. Given that our Forest Policy was last revised in 1988, changes are perhaps overdue. The new draft Forest Policy 2018, however, ignores the lessons from this period and returns to the state-managed forestry of...

-The Hindu Amid criticism from SC/ST panel, experts say project must continue Now in her late twenties, Veeramma Selvan of Thekkekadampara tribal hamlet in Sholayur gram panchayat of Attappady has reasons to believe that her gods have stopped smiling. It was in January last year that she lost her five-month-old, underweight son Balu — her fourth child — allegedly due to milk aspiration. (a medical condition in which the mother's milk goes...

-The Indian Express Haryana Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Om Prakash Dhankar said the government has sought report from all deputy commissioners about the estimated loss to the crop. Chandigarh: Unseasonal rains have caused loss to the wheat crop in Haryana. The government has also received reports about hailstorms in few parts of the state mainly Charki Dadri district in Southern Haryana on Monday. Haryana Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Om Prakash Dhankar...

-The Indian Express According to the Met department, Punjab may receive heavy showers coupled with strong winds till April 11. Experts have advised farmers to construct trenches and dig up some earth on the sides of the field in case there is rain. Jalandhar: Even as Punjab received mild to heavy rainfall coupled with hailstorm and cyclonic winds last night and wee hours Monday, however, no loss of ready-to-harvest wheat crop was...

-The Indian Express Farmers and activists, who have jointly raised the issue with NHSRC say that they were given “no time” to prepare for the meetings nor are the railway officials presenting the report of impact assessment. Vadodara/ Surat: The National High Speed Rail Corporation (NHSRC), which has begun its meetings with “stakeholders” to assess the social impact and damage from the ambitious Ahmedabad-Mumbai “bullet train” project, is facing protests from farmers...