-Frontline As rural Karnataka reels under an unprecedented wave of suicides by farmers, the State administration looks on, unwilling to address the reasons that have rendered rural livelihoods fragile. DEATH stalks rural Karnataka. In the 41 days between July 1 and August 10, as many as 245 farmers committed suicide, an average of six a day; since April 1, 284 farmers have taken their lives. As a bewildered State government gropes...

-The Indian Express As many as 512 offences against the State were registered across the country last year. With 72 cases, Kerala accounts for 14 per cent of the total, followed by Assam (11 per cent) and Karnataka (9 per cent). Kerala has recorded the highest number of cases registered in 2014 for offences against the State, data released by the National Crime Records Bureau has revealed. These cases have been lodged under...

-Hindustan Times New Delhi: A total of 8,765 people were arrested across the country for various environment-related offences in 2014, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has said in its latest report. The NCRB has added this fresh category in which it has given details of crimes registered under acts like the forest act, wildlife protection act, Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986, Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, Water (Prevention and...

-Livemint.com The petitioners have pinned their hopes on a clause in the 2013 land law that the government is now PLAnning to amend   Punjabhai Modhwadia, 42, isn’t giving up his land. Not without a fight. Sitting under a banyan tree overlooking fields of cotton, jowar and groundnut, next to what Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani called one of the biggest construction sites in the world, the Jamnagar farmer describes why...

-Livemint.com Farmers’ welfare is a multi-dimensional issue, with the farm ministry PLAying a small but significant role Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement to rename the ministry of agriculture to ministry of agriculture and farmers’ welfare may be symbolic, but is at the least a recognition of the stress in rural economy. The stress, particularly in the farming sector, is now all too obvious with the increase in suicides being reported in many...