-The Economic Times KOLKATA: West Bengal's agriculture department has decided to encourage farmers to cultivate extinct varieties of rice is drawing up plans to create a market for them. The department is also helping farmers to adopt organic farming methods. Agriculture department officials said that these indigenous varieties of rice, which are also known as folk rice, have properties which make them suitable for cultivating in particular regions and are also highly...

-The Hindu The case pertains to clearance given for diversion of forest land at Saranda Forest in Jharkhand’s Singhbhum District to a mining company in violation of Forest (Conservation) Act in 2012. The Central Bureau of Investigation on September 9 conducted searches at the Chennai premises of former Union Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan in connection with alleged irregularities in the approval to a proposal for leasing of 56 hectare forest land to...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The CBI on Saturday registered a corruption case against former Union Environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan+ and raided her premises in Chennai in connection with clearance given during her tenure for diversion of forest land for mining in alleged violation of laws. The CBI alleged that Natarajan, as the Environment minister during UPA rule+ , abused her official position while giving clearances to Electosteel Casting Limited, a...

-Livemint.com A report by NEERI recommends that suitable rebate in tax or subsidies may be given to poultry farms to encourage owners to give up the present caged system New Delhi: Poultry owners should understand that animals raised for food too deserve to live free from cruelty, and so, layered battery-cage systems in India’s poultry industry should be replaced with cage-free housings in a phase-wise manner, according to a report by the...

-The Hindu Business Line Abuse of antibiotics, poor waste management main reasons: CSE study New Delhi: The unfettered use of antibiotics to keep chicks healthy in poultry farms has led to a proliferation in bacteria, which are resistant to the best of drugs used for fighting infections, according to a new study. An analysis carried out by the New Delhi-based NGO, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said the soil in and around...