The face of agriculture in India is changing fast. It needs to become not only sustainable but also profitable for farmers especially the young to stay on the land and cultivate it. The farmers must understand how markets respond to agricultural produce. He should not stop by spending all his life's energy and resources on creating the agricultural produce, but should know how to get good returns for his efforts. This is...

Intervention plea in High Court opposes bail to Dr. Sen At half past four in the evening on Tuesday, Justices T.P. Sharma and R.L. Jhanwal of the Chhattisgarh High Court were preparing to adjourn for the day when they were interrupted by an energetic lawyer with tousled grey hair. “Your Honour, we would like to file an intervention application to oppose bail in this case,” began Shailesh Ahuja, marking the latest...

The Centre may announce a tax amnesty scheme to bring back black money stashed in banks abroad, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee hinted today. He declined to share the names of those who have black money in foreign banks “as it violates international law”. By one estimate, anything between $450 billion and $1.5 trillion is in these accounts. Mukherjee’s news conference was called today at the behest of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who...

Some of India's most prominent artists including Sharmila Tagore, Naseeruddin Shah, Aparna Sen, Mahesh Bhatt, Rahul Bose and others have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh protesting against the imprisonment of Human Rights activist Binayak Sen. He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment on sedition charges by the Additional District and Sessions Court at Raipur last month. 61-year-old Sen, a paediatrician by profession, was arrested in May 2007 in Bilaspur on...

Members of ‘Bandi Mukti Committee' — a human rights organisation — and a section of the city's intelligentsia demanded the immediate and unconditional release of renowned physician Binayak Sen here on Thursday. Dr. Sen was sentenced to life imprisonment by a Raipur sessions court on December 24 last year on sedition charges. Criticising the way Dr. Sen's lawyer was not allowed to give explanation supporting his client after the judgement, Magsaysay Award-winning...