The issue of acquiring farmland for industry is threatening to jolt West Bengal's Left Front, the world's longest-running democratically elected Communist government, says Sumit Bhattacharya A confidential digital map shows exactly how many land owners had taken the compensation, how many had taken partial compensation, and how many had refused to part with their land for the botched Tata Nano plant in Singur, West Bengal. The map -- based on Global...

The promised power from the Jaitapur nuclear project may light up the area, but Nandkumar Raut already finds the future dark. “Almost every family in the village has a police case against at least one member,” said the farmer from Madban, the village closest to the project site in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district. Raut said he has at least three cases foisted on him — one barring him from entering his own village...

Over Rs.1,000 crore deposited Procurement process being monitored For the first time in India, the Madhya Pradesh government has directly deposited over Rs. 1,000 crore in the bank accounts of farmers against procurement of wheat in the last 25 days. This amount includes a bonus paid at the rate of Rs.100 per quintal. The direct deposit process aims at saving farmers from the clutches of middlemen and will be continued in the coming...

To say that no one has elected Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal and the rest to speak for ordinary citizens is to say the obvious. The mostly middle-class people and the chatteratti (film stars, celebrity cops and so on) who have rallied to Mr Hazare’s cause remind one of the people who held hands and lit candles after the November 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai, saying, “Enough is enough”. TV stations...

India is trying to build a case to include agriculture in an estimated global market of $200-billion for carbon credit from the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). "We are pressing for carbon credit from agriculture. The Planning Commission on principal accepted the idea in September 2010," NCCSD executive chairman Kirit N Shelat said on the sidelines of a national conference on agriculture and climate change organised by South Asia Forum for Environment...