The kharif acreage has exceeded the last year's level by 78.93 lakh hectares. The Crop and Weather Watch Group in the Ministry of Agriculture, at its meeting on Friday, noted that the crops were so far sown in 950.22 lakh hectares as against 871.29 lakh hectares in the corresponding period last year. As per the data received from States, paddy has been sown in 312.42 lakh hectares as compared to 293.24 lakh...
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Jobs round the year mooted in Naxal areas by K Balchand
Members of the Central Employment Guarantee Council (CEGC), the government body for implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, have suggested that jobs be guaranteed round the year in Naxal-hit regions. The suggestion, made by one of the six working groups set up for improving the scope of the MNREGS, came up for discussion at Friday's CEGC meeting here. The group said that in Drought prone areas and regions...
More »Reluctant migrants by Mahim Pratap Singh
Bolangir district in Orissa, facing Drought conditions since 1965, sees an annual mass migration of farmers to other States in search of work. SURESH GOHIR of Bhotapada village in the backward Bolangir district of Orissa consumed pesticide two years ago after his paddy crop failed. He survived the suicide attempt but found life doubly difficult as debt had mounted. Suresh was forced to migrate to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh in search of...
More »Anti-Vedanta MP once wanted alumina company in Niyamgiri by Priscilla Jebaraj
Today, he is known as a champion of tribal rights and a leader in the fight against Vedanta's proposal to mine bauxite in Niyamgiri. But 14 years ago, Bhakta Charan Das, Congress MP from Kalahandi sang a different tune. “The Government of India and the Orissa Government should take keen interest to set up at least a large alumina plant because we have got a heavy deposit of bauxite in Niyamgiri...
More »Concern for food security - Devinder Sharma
Despite growing threat to food security from global warming, India is busy acq-uiring fertile lands for industries and infrastructure. Something terrible is happening to the weather. And it is happening right across our home. From the cold desert of Ladakh to the plains of Bihar and Jharkhand, extreme weather conditions have played havoc. In neighbouring Pakistan, unprecedented floods, and that too in the arid region of Sindh, have hit more than...
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