-The Indian Express A new initiative attempts to economically empower villagers living near Kanha National Park, and protect its green cover and wildlife. The Kanha–Pench forest corridor is rich in biodiversity and home to a large concentration of tigers, leopards, gaurs, barasingha, and cheetal. But with the population of the villages increasing and land holdings shrinking, conservation efforts were paramount. If the needs of the villagers for improved livelihoods are not...

-The Hindu Seventy of the 170 public wells identified have been dredged and cleaned Bidar (Karnataka): The district administration has started a project to preserve old open wells in public places in order to push up the aquifer and protect the ancient legacy of water management. The severe drought conditions of the year have pushed the officials to clean the wells, some of which are around 500 years old. Many of them were...

Amidst the prevailing gloominess over agrarian crisis, a recently released report says that the growth rate of agricultural output in both India and China were the same during 2008-2013. The agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) of both these countries on an average grew at 3.3 percent per annum during that period. The latest available data from the 2016 Global Food Policy Report, however, indicates that the neighbouring countries of Sri Lanka...

-Business Standard Instead of addressing systemic problems in agriculture, farm politics in the state is about how much money the government can offer the farmer as a dole The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), led by Parkash Singh Badal and son Sukhbir, was in a dilemma a year before the 2012 Assembly elections in Punjab. The Akalis had ruled Punjab since 2007 but no party had ever returned to power for a second...

-The Hindu Both machine owners and landless farmers stand to ‘gain in this economic model’ North Purulia (West Bengal): Raghav Koibarta, 40, of Para block is a relaxed but confused fisherman. Relaxed, as he does not go for work and confused as he is not sure if it is a good idea to bunk work and drink country liquor to while away the time. “But what is the point of going to work...