ZAVOORA, India (AlertNet) – Amid thousands of tree stumps stretching over almost 60 hectares (150 acres) of bare plateau, there are signs of life. Delicate saplings of kail and deodar conifers are growing between other newly planted deciduous trees.  The woodland had been cut down illegally by loggers and encroached upon for farming. But forestry officials here in Shopian district, a two-hour drive south of Srinagar, the summer capital of India’s...

-The Economic Times After emerging as one of the pioneers in the investment regions of petroleum products and information technology, Andhra Pradesh is now weighing the benefits of promoting an Agribusiness Investment Region (ABIR) involving major agri clusters in three of its geopolitical regions.  The proposed ABIR project in Andhra Pradesh, to be taken up in a public private partnership (PPP) model, involves setting up an integrated infrastructure for rural business and...

-The Times of India Fears that policy paralysis will continue after the Congress party's poor show in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections unnerved investors, and the sensex lost 190 points on Tuesday to end the day at 17173, its worst close in six weeks. The trepidation in the markets also affected shares of a few Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Group companies, even though they were actually expected to gain because of the...

-The Hindustan Times MPs, who already get R5 crore each to develop their constituencies, suddenly have more funds to dip into. The government has made available to them money under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), its flagship livelihood programme. The statistics and programme implementation ministry, which monitors the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS), has decided to converge the fund with MGNREGA after representations from MPs,...

Blood spilt in the Hashimpura massacre and riots in 1987 remain fresh for survivors Nearly 25 years old, the black-and-white photograph of his son’s body has begun to fade but Jamaluddin Ansari’s anger has not waned. Having lost his eldest son Qamaruddin in the 1987 Hashimpura massacre in Meerut, the 75-year-old still awaits closure. “All prosecution witnesses have said what they had to state at the court but it keeps...