-The Indian Express Till his last, Krishnan, who died in Delhi Sunday aged 87, remained partial to the depressed classes and worked towards the destruction of the caste order, relentlessly exposing its institutional manifestations. New Delhi: EARLY IN his career in the civil services, P S Krishnan received an entry in his confidential report that he would read out as the perfect summation of his career. It read: “Undue partiality to depressed...

-The Hindu Zero Budget Natural Farming has no scientific validation and its inclusion into agricultural policy appears unwise Most criticisms of modern agricultural practices are criticisms of post-Liebig developments in agricultural science. It was after the pioneering work of Justus von Liebig and Friedrich Wöhler in organic chemistry in the 19th century that chemical fertilizers began to be used in agriculture. In the 20th century, the criticisms levelled against Green Revolution technologies...

-The Indian Express Punjab government’s data states that 3,330 farmers have taken their lives due to farm debt since 2000 till date, of which 698 committed suicide in the past four years, most of them in the Malwa region. Over the past few years, ‘farm debt’ has been one of the main reasons behind farmers and farm labourers committing suicide in Punjab. Farmer groups, state universities’ and government data have indicated...

-Down to Earth Nasa’s satellite image showed at least 100 such incidents in Punjab in the last 72 hours Nasa satellite images recorded scores of farm fires across Punjab and Haryana in the last seven days, indicating that the stubble burning season has started in the two states. Several red dots, indicating stubble burning activity, were seen in the images, especially over the districts of AMRitsar, Ludhiana and Patiala in Punjab, and Karnal,...

-The Times of India NAGPUR: After a question was raised by TOI in a press conference addressed by state agriculture minister Dr Anil Bonde, a notification to impose a temporary ban on five pesticide formulations was issued on Thursday. The ban will be in force in AMRavati division, especially Akola and Yavatmal districts for 60 days. Bonde had signed the order over a week ago, but the order had not reached the department’s...