-The Indian Express Bassikalan (Muzaffarnagar, UP): Rashid Ali was born in a family of relative affluence - he was one of the few Muslims in Lakh village who had a farm, cattle, a roof over his head, and food aplenty. Ordinarily, with the sugarcane resting in the fields, only to be cut a month later, September was a month of leisure. The rise and fall of the sun didn't dictate his...

-The Hindu     The draft policy on the use of forest land is at odds with sound conservation principles and fails to plug holes in current guidelines that work to the advantage of project promoters The Supreme Court in July 2011 while delivering the Lafarge Judgment laid down guidelines on forest clearance procedures. These were to operate till a new regulatory mechanism was put in place. Two years after the judgment, the Ministry...

-The Times of India CHENNAI: The simple yet nutritious idli is the fastest selling item on the menu at the Amma canteens. Since February, 4.6 crore idlis have been sold here. But the taste of success might just be embittered by financial burden on the corporation. Sources said the civic body loses 86 paise per idli, which is sold for 1 in the canteens. So, if the civic body sold 4.6 crore...

-The Telegraph Bhubaneswar: The Land Acquisition Bill passed by the Lok Sabha, which is being hailed as "revolutionary" by some, may hit the industrialisation drive in the state where a number of projects are caught in land tangles. The proposed law, which makes consent of 80 per cent of landholders in the project area mandatory for land acquisition in the case of private projects, is likely to suit protesters who have been...

-The Hindu MADURAI: Muthumari's day starts at 4 a.m. She milks her cows in the cowshed behind the house and keeps cans of milk ready to be collected by a pickup van from a private dairy company. Then she turns to her household chores and sends her children off to school. Packing the day's food for herself, she proceeds towards the fields in her village at Udayanpatti. She is not just a...