-The Indian Express Just a few years ago, the World Bank in its World Development Report claimed that migration from rural India to urban centres is "natural" and the same should not be interrupted or prevented through schemes like the MGNREGA. This was a shocking statement to all those who know why there is huge and ever-growing migration to cities, not only of the labour class but also of farmers and small...

-The Hindu VIJAYAWADA: There is no need for farmers to commit due to debt burden, if they practise ‘zero-budget natural farming', said Subhash Palekar, organic farming crusader. Addressing farmers from 17 districts in AP and Telangana at a workshop on his model of farming, Mr Palekar said farmers could cultivate 30 acres profitably using farm yard manure generated by one cow or buffalo. The farmers did not need to invest money on...

-IPS News NAGAPATNAM, India - Standing amidst his lush green paddy fields in Nagapatnam, a coastal district in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, a farmer named Ramajayam remembers how a single wave changed his entire life. The simple farmer was one of thousands whose agricultural lands were destroyed by the 2004 Asian tsunami, as massive volumes of saltwater and metre-high piles of sea slush inundated these fertile fields in the...

-The Times of India VISAKHAPATNAM: The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy ( UMNRE)'s eco-friendly concept of promoting solar powered water pumps among farmers in coastal AP seems to have met with a tepid response as only 200-odd farmers in the five coastal districts falling under the purview of the Eastern Power Distribution Company of AP Limited (APEPDCL) have evinced interest in picking up these pumps. A few months ago,...

-Business Standard The ordinance has returned near absolute power of discretion in land acquisition, except in tribal areas, into the hands of the bureaucracy yet again Even after the National Democratic Alliance's land ordinance, governments will still need the consent of tribal gram sabhas in all Schedule V and VI areas of the country before acquiring land for themselves or for public-private projects. While the land ordinance has done away with the need...