-Economic and Political Weekly     Sustained and focused efforts have to be made by the Tamil Nadu state government to provide relief and rehabilitation to the drought affected people of the state. S Rajendran (myrajendran@gmail.com) is with the Department of Economics, Periyar University, Salem, Tamil Nadu. Due to the failure of the north-east monsoon in December 2013, Tamil Nadu is witnessing drought like conditions this year, leading to poor agricultural productivity, rural distress,...

-Reuters Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set in motion the first major revamp in decades of the archaic labour laws, part of a plan to revive the flagging economy, boost manufacturing and create millions of jobs. Successive governments have agreed labour reform is critical to absorb 200 million Indians reaching working age over the next two decades, but fears of an ugly union-led backlash and partisan politics have prevented changes to free...

-The Pioneer Dantewada: Bio farming has altered the direction and way of 2,000-year-old traditional agricultural practices of farmers residing in villages such as Bhusaras, Hiranaar and Surnaar of Dantewada district of Bastar region. With a unique way of farming, without using hybrid seeds, fertilizer, insecticides, and modern and costly farm implements, the farmers of these villages have produced 4-5 times more crops. Because of the agricultural practice here, the Central Government has declared...

-Institute of Economic Growth This study tries to assess the vulnerability to climate change of farmers in Uttar Pradesh (UP), a state in India. The study chose UP for its importance in India's food and nutrition security programme and its high sensitivity to climate change. It uses 17 environmental and socio-economic factors to see which districts of UP are the most vulnerable to climate change, and attempts to identify the factors...

-Press Information Bureau   Mr. Peter Kenmore, FAO Representative in India called on the Agriculture Minister Shri Radha Mohan Singh here today to apprise him of the work done by FAO globally, and in India towards ensuring food security, price stability, family farming and responsible agriculture especially in the context of challenges on account of climate change. Mr Kenmore also discussed the international programmes and interventions of FAO, especially in locust control,...