-PTI New Delhi: Expressing their resistance against GM-mustard, thousands of people joined ‘Sarson Satyagraha’ in 18 states on Gandhi Jayanti today, asserting the hybrid variety is “unwanted, unneeded and unsafe“. The ‘Satyagraha’ took various forms ranging from Gram Sabha resolutions to remain GM-free to take part in a mustard festival, organised by the Delhi government to gather public feedback on GM mustard. Eminent citizens, scientists, film personalities, farmer leaders, artists, and activists took...

-The Hindu ‘When there are no signs of war why uproot poor farmers when crops are ready for harvest?’ The Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party have severely criticised the Union and Punjab government for evacuating the border villages in the State without proper arrangements. They accuse the government of spreading panic among people. Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh said on Sunday that the Union government was creating war hysteria and tension along...

-Business Standard The efficacy of farm debt waivers is ambiguous, but it has proved to be a potent potent weapon in the run-up to elections With elections round the corner in agrarian states of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, his party’s Punjab chief ministerial candidate Amarinder Singh and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal are trying to woo farmers of the two states with promises of farm...

-The Indian Express An enduring solution to India’s water woes lies in buffer stocking during monsoon months and release during lean seasons. Till June end this year, the government was worried about how to cope with back-to-back drought. But by the second half of August, the scene changed dramatically and several states were in the spate of floods. In Bihar, more than five million people have been affected and 6,50,000 displaced from...

-The Hindu The Singur project was considered, at the time of inception, as the revival of industry in West Bengal. Singur (West Bengal): Bhaskar Kanrar and Bubai Kanrar were no more than children when their parents and uncles began the movement against forcible land acquisition for the setting up of Tata Motors’ Nano factory in Singur. Ten years later, with the Supreme Court verdict that went in favour of the protesting farmers, the...