-The Hindu TUTICORIN (Tamil Nadu): A technologically advanced method is rooted in the success of a farmer from Kurukattoor in Alwarthirunagari block. With the adoption of System Rice Intensification (SRI) method, John, a progressive farmer, reaped rich benefits in paddy. With the key intervention from officials of the Department of Agriculture, the farmer reaped 4,000 kg of paddy per acre, against the normal yield of 2,300 kg. On his 10-acre farm land, Mr....

-The Hindu Reason: inordinate delay in sanctioning of funds by Centre Theni (Tamil Nadu): Thousands of labourers, who registered their names with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), in rain-fed and drought-prone areas of the district are jobless due to the inordinate delay in sanctioning of funds by the Centre. The delay has not only stalled ongoing works but also affected implementation of new ones, according to officials in village...

-The Hindustan Times The entire framework for monitoring environmental compliance is being dismantled systematically. This is a process that actually began with the UPA government, which replaced the feisty environment minister Jairam Ramesh with the more pliant Jayanthi Natarajan. With industry lobbies still crying wolf, she too made way for Veerappa Moily, the petroleum and natural gas minister, without the UPA seeing anything contradictory in someone holding both those responsibilities. In just a month,...

-The Hindu Business Line While the limitations of the concept of economic growth are acknowledged, we need a better index than HDI Despite claims that economic development as a branch of economic science emerged only in the 1950s, there is no doubt that the notion of development existed even in classical economic thought processes, emerging from the writings of Adam Smith and David Ricardo. The recognition of development economics as a discipline...

-The Hindu Chennai: The Tamil Nadu model of providing primacy to the views of farmers in the management of irrigation tanks has been lauded by an official of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), who is heading a team to review tank projects in India. Conventionally, the tank management has been governed by the water engineering-centric approach. But, in Tamil Nadu, "the focus is on farmers, their needs. And, that's the way...