-The Business Standard Forest Rights Act being reinterpreted to avoid amendment Led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is discussing possible ways to do away with the mandatory requirement of securing consent from tribal gram sabhas (village councils) before cutting down their forests for industrial purposes. The deliberations, on among various ministries, are for zeroing in on such a way that the requirement is removed without...
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Cradle. Now, grave -Soumik Dey
-The Week Manorama Online Broken hearts float down the Bhakra Main Line canal. Broken by the endless struggle with the land, with the weather, with the creditor. Broken by broken promises, broken by the honour they lost, broken enough to kill themselves. And, at the sluice gate at Khanauri village they slow down, looking up with unseeing eyes. And, from the bridge across the canal, the beating hearts they broke look...
More »Maharashtra's irrigation system tied in knots -Aman Sethi
-The Business Standard Agrarian crisis in the state appears as much a failure of planning as the result of a shortage of rain On a dry and cloudless day this month, Balbir Krishna Ingde sat by the Ujjani Dam in the Krishna basin, one of Maharashtra's largest irrigation projects, and confronted the problem of scarcity amid presumed abundance. "The water is filling up the reservoir. If only they could release it into the...
More »Big monsoon picture masks agony on the small farm -Sanjeeb Mukherjee
-The Business Standard Rainfall shortage in Rajasthan to hit summer and winter crops Alwar (Rajasthan): Khajura Ram has an agonising fortnight ahead. If it does not rain in the next 15 days, he not only will have a poor summer bajra crop; his winter wheat or mustard will suffer as well because it will have to be planted late. "By the middle of August, the bajra crop should have been ready for harvesting...
More »Saving Agriculture from Drought
-Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Agriculture Cumulative rainfall till 05.08.2014 was 405.3 mm which is 19% less than normal or Long Period Average (LPA) of 499.3 mm. As per information provided by IMD, out of 620 districts for which rainfall data is available, 251 (40%) have so far received normal/excess rainfall. State Governments are empowered to initiate appropriate relief measures in the wake drought from funds readily available under State Disaster Response...
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