-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: The government's ambitious manufacturing thrust has run into trouble even before it could take off with many states expressing difficulty in acquiring the vast tracts of land needed to set up dedicated zones. Five states have written to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, requesting it to consider revising the minimum land requirement (from existing 5,000 hectare) for developing National Manufacturing Investment Zones (NMIZs). These include Assam,...

-The Hindu They also allege borewells are being dug without permission Chennai: Environmentalists and naturalists are shocked at the conversion of traditional agriculture land into resorts and digging of borewells in the ecologically sensitive Sirumalai forests in the Dindigul forest division. Sirumalai is popular for its hill banana, which is grown only there. Basically, it is a catchment area, where sixty per cent of flora found in the Western Ghats, are available. This...

-The Times of India MADURAI: In what may come as a surprise package to the farming community, the number of farmers in Madurai district has increased marginally, even as there is a decline at the national level. In 2001, there were 3.1 lakh land holdings or farmers for a population of 25.78 lakh in the district. But now, the number has gone up to 3.28 lakh against a population of...

-The Hindu Chennai: Social activist Medha Patkar met residents affected by the Chennai airport expansion project here in Manapakkam on Wednesday. After meeting the residents at a gathering in Manapakkam, she told mediapersons the State government must denotify the lands acquired from the residents for the expansion work, since Airport Authority of India (AAI) had said that some of the allotted land might not be needed. "Though the experts have told that so...

-The Hindu   Government planning to set up paper board unit at a cost of Rs. 1200 crore TIRUCHI: Farmers of Mondipatti panchayat in Srirangam, Chief Minister Jayalalithaa's constituency, are up in arms over the move to acquire their land for the setting up of a paper board unit. The farmers argued that the land identified for the State-owned project had been under cultivation for three generations, and the livelihood of at least 2,000...