-The Hindu The chopping off of the palms of two migrant workers is a wake-up call The gruesome incident of the chopping off of the palms of two migrant labourers of Kalahandi district of western Odisha by the labour contractor mafia in December 2013 should serve as a wake-up call. The incident highlights the ruthless extent to which the mafia can go to meet its ends and brings home the fact that...
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The truth of India’s position at Bali
-Live Mint The national food security law is in trouble from an unlikely source The outcome of the World Trade Organization (WTO) summit at Bali has been projected as a great victory for the Indian government by its spokespersons. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In exchange for a temporary reprieve on its food support programme, India has bartered away the bargaining chip of trade facilitation, which Western negotiators demanded. The...
More »Back from the brink -M Suchitra
-Down to Earth A Kerala village grows organic pokkali rice after 25 years Harvest of pokkali rice in Kerala's Ezhupunna village, which began on October 27 and lasted three weeks, was nothing short of a local event. After all, the indigenous, saline and flood-resistant rice variety was cultivated in the village after 25 years. People in the village had to wage a long battle to be able to cultivate the crop once...
More »34% marginal farmers in Punjab living below poverty line -Amaninder Pal Sharma
-The Times of India PATIALA: A new study has revealed that over 34% of marginal farmers in Punjab are still living below poverty line, denting the tall claims of SAD-BJP government on uplift of the farmers, who are considered the traditional vote bank of the over nine-decade-old Shiromani Akali Dal. Besides marginal farmers, the study conducted by the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, has also brought to the fore that over 20%...
More »Wrestling with the rural economy-P Sainath
-The Hindu Kushti is located at the intersection of sports, politics and culture and is deeply embedded in the agrarian economy. If farming tanks, so does Maharashtra's greatest spectator sport. You'd think it was the turnout for Sachin Tendulkar's final test. Anyone might - seeing close to two lakh people showing up five hours before start of play, despite a nagging drizzle. But this is "below normal" for Kundal town, which hosts...
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