-The Times of India NAGPUR: Farmers in Vidarbha should be encouraged to cultivate a variety of crops so that they could get a bigger market for their produce. In addition to this, promotion of organic farming will help in increasing the yield and curb farmers' suicides, said Vandana Shiva, a well-known scientist and environmentalist, on Wednesday. Addressing a press conference at Tilak Patrakar Bhavan, Shiva said, "Farmers and citizens of our country...

-TheWire.in The government knows what it wants to achieve where the environment is concerned, even if it is at the cost of the protection of ecosystems, and people’s livelihood and well being. The last three years under the Modi government have seen the transformation of the environment from being a field of relative stability and inactivity, to functioning as an active instrument of capital accumulation. The sharp polarisation between extremely positive initiatives...

-The Hindu Managers of around 3,000 privately-run markets are to meet and protest new rules that ban sale of animals for slaughter at cattle markets Fridays are festive days at Pachokhara. For nearly half-a-century now, farmers, cattle-rearers and tradesmen have made the weekly trip to the cricket stadium-sized grounds of the Upadhyay family— prominent local land-owners — to trade cattle. A dirt road splits the ground into a section for buffaloes and another for...

-The Hindu Business Line Threat of fluoride contamination in crops looms large in Assam Dilwar Hussain may not be able to give you the exact scientific explanation for how excessive fluoride can harm one’s bones and teeth, but he knows that it crippled his young son, causing his legs to bend. Children suffering from skeletal and dental fluorosis — marked by stained and crooked teeth, and bent legs — are a common sight...

-PTI May 23 notification not “to influence food habits, or affect slaughtering business”, the Union Environment Minister says. The government on Sunday said it was open to suggestions from various groups on the May 23 cattle slaughter notification and was not viewing it as a prestige issue. Speaking to reporters here, Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan said the intention behind the notification was not to harm any particular group, influence food habits or affect...