-Down to Earth Activists claim the move was in response to the tribals’ protest against mining in their forest For the first time in 10 years of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), the Chhattisgarh government has cancelled forest rights allotted to tribals of Ghatbarra village in Surguja district. In an order issued on January 8, 2016, the state forest department stated that village residents were using their rights to oppose mining...

-Business Standard However, the states have broadly agreed to most other issues raised by NITI Aayog task force, including legalising land lease Consensus seems to have eluded a NITI Aayog task force on agriculture on use of genetically modified (GM) technology in pulses and oilseeds from state governments. However, state governments have broadly agreed to most other issues raised by the task force, including legalising land lease. Officials said the task force, which...

-The Hindu Business Line The absence of a strong framework can hold up productivity improvements. But GEAC is better than having no regulator at all The clamour for the state to regulate (as against the powers of the legally mandated regulatory agency), field trials of bio-technology seeds for cotton and then mustard, is truly extraordinary. It has serious long-term consequences for the economy. The challenges to the Genetic Engineering Advisory Council’s powers to regulate the...

-PTI "At the ground level, PMFBY and the Guidelines will make no difference to the farmer-as is prevalent now, the insurance premium will be deducted without the farmers' knowledge, consent and information and when there is crop loss, the same yield based assessment arbitrarily decided by patwaris will apply," Abhiyan added. Criticising the new crop insurance scheme launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Swaraj Abhiyan said it will make no difference to...

-Hindustan Times The Modi government is looking to address a worrying agrarian crisis with a set of schemes and Budget provisions aimed at ramping up the larger rural economy, rather than just the farm sector, people familiar with the development told HT. Budget 2015-2016 is likely to provide for a more effective Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayin Yojana, a flagship scheme announced last year to create irrigation infrastructure, with substantially higher allocations. The...