-The Hindu Given industry concerns and the desire to accelerate industrialisation, the government could have reopened the debate on the land act. Instead, it has wholly accepted one perception of the conflict, and sought to undo the compromise embodied in the 2013 Act without a review This article will not go into the question of the propriety of the ordinance route to legislation in this case, but will try to present a...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Madhya Pradesh government wants to turn the ravines of Chambal - a unique geographical feature once infamous for sheltering dacoits - into agriculture fields by levelling the twisting hillocks. Considering the undulating and barren topography, the task of levelling the mud ravines for agriculture seems stupendous, but chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday formally placed the proposal before the Centre when he met Union...

-The Hindu They are gripped by fear of losing valuable lands, say villagers PENUMAKA (GUNTUR District/ Karnataka): The colourful rangoli patterns are missing, there is no smell of delicacies in their houses and the warmth and bonhomie which one sees on the eve of harvest festival are missing in villages resisting land-pooling. For families, living on fertile lands, tilling them and selling the produce at Vijayawada and other towns has been a way...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday accused the Modi government of surreptitiously restoring a century-old British law on land acquisition even as the party brainstormed on "weakening" of UPA's "aam aadmi" policies, firmly adopting a left-of-centre approach to take on BJP. Congress appears set to launch an agitation against the NDA government's policies of coal mine auctions, liberalized land acquisition, Forest Rights Act and a restructured...

-Down to Earth The programme does not address challenges that farmers face in eastern states Farmers in Jharkhand have not derived significant benefits from the new Green Revolution programme initiated by the Centre in 2010-11, according to a report by non-profits working with the farmers in the state. The report claims that the government tried to implement the 1960s model of Green Revolution that increased agricultural production in Punjab and Haryana, without...