Ram Dia Singh was ready to chuck in his life as a farmer in northern India to embrace that of an ascetic in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains. When he consulted his guru in the hill town of Solan, instead of being welcomed into a holy order he was instructed to return to the land and do good works among fellow farmers who increasingly struggle to eke out a living...

Ashok Gulati, Director in Asia for the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), was appointed Chairman of the Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices for the Ministry of Agriculture , Government of India. Based in New Delhi, he will be involved in developing appropriate price policy and marketing structures for major agricultural commodities in the country. Gulati’s appointment begins on March 1. Bart Minten will be acting director of the New...

An estimated 75 per cent of the world’s coral reefs are threatened by local human activity, including over-fishing, coastal development and pollution, and global pressures such as climate change, warming seas and rising ocean acidification, according to a United Nations-backed report unveiled today. “Reefs at Risk Revisited,” launched today in Washington and London, says that if the threats to the reefs are not dealt with, more than 90 per cent of...

Unlike the educated elite who go Westwards, attracted by better opportunities and a luxurious lifestyle, those who land up in West Asia as waged labourers have a much harder time: Practically no rights, hostile working environments and absolutely no support systems. Why is it that the violation of their basic rights doesn't figure at all in the national imagination? About the same time that India aired “absolute displeasure and concern” over...

The zero-budget natural farming propounded by Subash Palekar has reached Sri Lanka. The natural farming technique that is fast-catching up with the farmers in South India has been taken up by farmers in the neighbouring nation. Sharath Fernando from Sri Lanka, who partook in a meet of farmers from South Asia at Bangalore, said the Sri Lankan government is supporting the initiative. According to him, farmers in his homeland are facing...