-The Hindustan Times The government plans to put up coal mines for bidding by private steel, power and cement companies and introduce changes in the law to enable commercial mining in the future, signalling its intent to fully open the sector to private players. The new auction-based system will replace the earlier controversial policy of allotting coal blocks based on recommendations of a panel of bureaucrats, which the Supreme Court had struck...

-The Hindu In many cases, forest clearance was not obtained, says committee The Supreme Court-appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) has found large-scale illegal mining of iron and manganese ore in the forest lands of Odisha. In its report submitted to the apex court in a public interest writ petition seeking a ban on illegal mining in Odisha, the CEC, quoting the figures of the Odisha government, said, "As per the details given by...

-The Hindu Gulbarga (Karnataka): Organic farming is catching up with farmers both in the irrigated and rain-fed areas in Gulbarga district. The improved agricultural practice of mixed crop cultivation, avoiding the use of the chemical fertilisers and pesticides, is a hit among the farmers in the district. Joint Director of the Agriculture Department Mohammad Jilani Mokashi told a group of presspersons visiting some of the agriculture plots, where individual farmers have adopted...

-The Hindu The new system is less labour-intensive, requires less input and less seed Warangal (Telengana): Agricultural scientists in the district have introduced and popularised ‘aerobic system of rice cultivation' wherein a farmer can directly sow the seed like any other crop. The system is less labour-intensive, needs less input and less seed. At a demonstration programme held at Reddypuram on Sunday, a local farmer's crop which was grown using the ‘aerobic system'...

-The Hindu Hyderabad (Telengana): Poonam Malakondaiah, Principal Secretary, Agriculture, Telangana government, has suggested developing 100 model villages in Telangana to promote integrated farming to help small and marginalised farmers. Addressing the World Food Day celebrations at Prof. Jaya Shankar Agricultural University here on Thursday, she said that integrated farming would help farmers to take up dairy farming, fisheries, sericulture and other allied activities along with regular farming to boost their earnings. She suggested...