3,344 acres of barren land to be converted into farmland An agriculture development scheme under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGP) is being launched in 154 of the 187 tribal hamlets in the Attappady Hills in Palakkad. As much as 3,344 acres of barren land will be converted into farmland under 10,405 works with the implementation of the Rs.64-crore scheme, considered a first of its kind. The salient...

“Punjab has suffered only debt, serious illnesses and polluted and scanty water sources” Appealing to the farmers and policy-makers to not emulate the Punjab model of Green Revolution, some farmers from Punjab said here on Sunday that the revolution had completely ruined the State. “Punjab is now called the cancer capital of India. The Green Revolution has given farmers only three things: debt, serious illnesses and polluted and scanty water sources,”...

The Kaziranga National Park in Assam lost two pregnant cow elephants after they strayed into a nearby tea estate and consumed grass sprinkled with pesticides. According to the officials from the reserve, one of the elephants died at Panbari, the elephant corridor across NH-37, and the other died 13 km away at Lengerapahar, under Dolamari range of the park, on Monday, they said. The two elephants had ventured out of the park....

State wants Centre to bear 25% of the cost Centre had earlier rejected the scheme The State government has resubmitted its project for distribution of essential commodities through ration shops to the Centre for assistance and proposes to lobby for it strongly. The project envisages distribution of 13 items, such as green gram, Bengal gram, split gram, coriander and chillies, through the ration shops in the State at subsidised rates. The State wants...

KEY TRENDS   • Section 105 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, which provides for excluding 13 Central legislation, including Land Acquisition (Mines) Act 1885, Atomic Energy Act, 1962, Railway Act 1989, National Highways Act 1956 and Metro Railways (Construction of Works) Act, 1978, from its purview, has been amended for payment of compensation with rigours $ • The amendments have now...