-Scroll.in At the heart of the problem is a discrepancy between two laws on rights for Adivasis to the bamboo growing on their traditional forestlands. Across the world, taxonomists have classified bamboo as a grass. But under Indian law, it was treated as a tree. This definition has long given state forest departments monopolistic control over the valuable natural resource. On November 23, the central government loosened this grip by amending the...

-PTI The economist said Gujarat almost always comes around the middle when it comes to any ranking of development indicators, whether it is social indicators, human development index, child development index or multi-dimensional poverty index. New Delhi: Development economist and activist Jean Dreze on Sunday said there was "no evidence" that the so-called "Gujarat Model" was a model in any sense, pointing out to the state's backwardness in social indicators. "If you look...

-The Financial Express For most consumers, ‘organic’ is probably a code for ‘safe’ or ‘residue-free’, not necessarily produce grown without chemical fertilisers and pesticides. But marketers use the tag to tap into a seam of fear in some urban parents who are so anxious about health that they are willing to pay for advertising that spells ‘well-being’. A brand of ‘organic’ jaggery, for example, on the shelves of Reliance Fresh stores...

-The Indian Express The Agriculture Department has meanwhile rushed two ‘Quality Control’ probe teams to Yavatmal and Akola to check if some of the pesticides were spurious. Yavatmal (Maharashra): Devidas Madavi, 57, a farm hand from Kalamb town in Yavatmal district, took up the job of spraying pesticides for the first time this year. By August 19, 12 days after he had used a can to spray pesticides in the cotton fields...

-The Times of India BENGALURU: You needn't visit the sub-registrar's office to get your marriage registered. Forget all the hassles, and apply and print your certificate online -all from your home. Karnataka's stamps and registration department has decided to launch a dedicated portal, on the lines of property registration, to minimize visits to the government office. "We are streamlining the process of getting marriage certificates online. Till now, you could apply online and...