Non-governmental organisation BAIF Development Research Foundation is encouraging tribal farmers to take up tree-based farming on degraded wasteland around their plots under a unique model of sustainable growth since the beginning of this year. A movie, Wadi', depicting this agri-horti-forestry effort was launched in the city on Wednesday. To begin with, the model was implemented in the Nashik, Ahmednagar and Thane districts of Maharashtra and in Gujarat, Karnataka and Rajasthan....
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Losing homes by Divya Gandhi
With the BRT Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka going to get a tiger reserve status, the Soligas living there face imminent eviction.NEVER before have the tigers of the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple (BRT) Wildlife Sanctuary burned so bright, either in popular imagination or in administrative priority. With the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests approving “in principle” the status of a tiger reserve for the BRT sanctuary, the endangered cat has taken...
More »Monsoon misery by TS Subramanian
Tamil Nadu: The north-east monsoon, 50 per cent in excess in the State, claims over 200 lives and destroys crops and infrastructure.A SERIES of weather systems, including a cyclone that missed Chennai narrowly, saw the skies open up over Tamil Nadu between November 4 and December 5, the period when the north-east monsoon is most active. Most of the 561 mm of rainfall that the State received between October 1...
More »Don't denigrate institution of Prime Minister: Sonia by Smita Gupta
On the closing day of the winter session of Parliament, in which a united Opposition targeted the Congress, not even sparing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on the 2G spectrum scam issue, Congress president Sonia Gandhi came out strongly in his support.Addressing Congress Parliamentary Party members here on Monday, Ms. Gandhi said nothing should be done to “denigrate the institution of Prime Minister.”“Our government has nothing to hide. Our government has...
More »Maharashtra—chronicle of a death foretold? by Ranjona Banerji
Over the past two decades, Maharashtra’s leaders and caretakers have carefully steered it from being India’s most progressive and forward-looking state to lying on the verge of becoming one of India’s most backward.This is no mean achievement. Mumbai, as is well known, contributes close to 40% of the nation’s direct taxes. In 2003-2004, Maharashtra’s net state domestic product was second only to Haryana’s and the gross domestic product was 13%...
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