Spectre of drought haunts the nation! More than 40 percent of districts are affected by drought this year. Drought is expected to affect the prospect of crop production and livelihood of agriculturalists. According to an estimate made by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), 283 districts out of total 640 districts are affected by drought. In such districts, rainfall deficiency this year has been in the range of -20 percent to...
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Subverting the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 -Santosh Verma
-Economic and Political Weekly After coming to power in 2014, the National Democratic Alliance government took several measures to dilute the pro-poor provisions of the Land Acquisition Act of 2013. Though it has backed down, several questions remain over the way the Modi government has dealt with the issue of land acquisition. Santosh Verma (santosh.econ@gmail.com) is at the Council for Social Development, New Delhi. Land acquisition—by private corporations or the state—has raised vital...
More »NDA warned as rural distress worsens, farmer unrest spurts -Rajnish Sharma and Sayantan Bera
-Livemint.com Low support price, land acquisition bill, short supply of fertilizers among triggers for clashes, shows analysis New Delhi: Security agencies have warned the government of growing farmer unrest across the country as rural distress worsens. There has been a spurt in clashes among farmers and government agencies, particularly in states such as Maharashtra, which is facing acute rural distress. Till June end, 74 incidents were reported nationwide, twice the number recorded...
More »Land law not the only rollback: Seeds Bill put on hold over ‘GM’ clause
-The Indian Express The move comes despite three rounds of inter-ministerial consultations on the Seeds Bill, during which all ministries agreed to its major provisions, including five recent amendments. It’s not just the Land Acquisition Bill, the NDA government has also put on hold proposed amendments to the Seeds Bill, mainly due to a clause on the use of genetically modified (GM) seeds that it fears would portray it as being...
More »El Niño strongest since 1997-98, monsoon deficit may increase -Nikita Mehta
-Livemint.com As of Tuesday, 40% of the country was rain deficient, even as the monsoon is expected to start withdrawing from northwest India this week New Delhi: As India faces a monsoon rainfall deficit of 12%, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology on Tuesday said the 2015 El Niño is now the strongest since 1997-98. The temperature anomalies in the tropical Pacific Ocean remain a little more than half a degree below...
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