-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In a fresh threat to the fragile ecosystem of the Aravalis, the Haryana forest department has reversed its earlier order and asked officials not to designate lands in the range as forests, other than those formally recorded as such. The order implies that vast tracts of forests, including most parts of the sacred Mangarbani grove, would now be recorded as 'not forest'. This reverses the department's...

-The Times of India PUNE: A city-based researcher has developed an eco-friendly toilet which can convert dry human faeces into humus (organic matter) and utilize urine for vermicomposting in an odourless, pollution-free manner. "The system does not require extra water or an expensive drainage system. It will especially help green-zones, parks and agri-rich areas where water is scarce," said Mohan Ketkar, who has conceptualized and developed the eco-friendly toilet. Ketkar worked for the...

-Business Standard Subsidised farm credit also goes to companies There has been a massive surge in institutional agricultural credit over the past decade. But the benefit of that has not reached as much to farmers as it has to agri-businesses and companies branching out into agriculture-related activities. This is clear from an analytical study of agricultural credit by scholars at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, based on a Reserve Bank of...

-The Times of India Despite more access to education, better household amenities and increased incomes, the economic gap between upper castes and dalit and tribal communities continues unchanged over the years, according to latest economic data from the NSSO. A comparison of average monthly expenditure of households belonging to dalit communities with upper caste households showed that in rural areas there was a gap of about 38% in 1999-2000 which changed only...

-The Indian Express Unseasonal rains are breaking the back of Indian farmers. The prime minister has taken the first step by deciding to raise the existing norms of compensation by a hefty 50 per cent - from the existing Rs 9,000 per hectare for irrigated crop, Rs 4,500 per ha for unirrigated crop and Rs 12,000 per ha for perennial crop. Further, the compensation will be given to all those who...