-The Hindu Implementation in a phased manner: Mohanan ALAPPUZHA (Kerala): Agriculture Minister K.P. Mohanan has said that the government is seriously considering a ban on use of chemical fertilizers in the State. He was inaugurating an exhibition-cum-sale of dairy, agricultural, and industrial products organised by the Chengannur block panchayat here on Wednesday evening. Mr. Mohanan said the government was mulling over implementing the ban in a phased manner from next year. He said a study...

-The Hindu The very process of development and change in India may be generating new forms of social and economic competition that manifest themselves in terms of social bias Popular debate around social biases in India is structured around two competing narratives. One view holds that as an urbanising country with rapid economic growth over the past few decades, the importance of ascriptive identities such as caste and religion is gradually eroding....

-The Indian Express The Ministry of Rural development seems undecided on whether to blame former Minister Nitin Gadkari or the media for some of the problems with the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). An internal note of the Ministry - prepared ahead of a Performance Review Committee meeting this month - blamed Gadkari for contributing to delays in the payment of wages under the scheme. Soon after...

The tribal or the Scheduled Tribe communities constitute only 8.6 percent of India's population and yet, they are around 40 percent of those displaced due to ‘development’ projects. In the midst of a raging debate on the new Land Acquisition Ordinance, a new report brings out many such paradoxes of development versus displacement of India’s indigenous or Adivasi people. The report exposes the anomalies of land alienation, displacement and forced...

-Down to Earth Government takes ordinance route to clear Bill, allowing foreign companies to bid for mineral resources The BJP-led Central government has cleared an ordinance to facilitate the auction of minerals, including ores used to produce iron, manganese and aluminium. In a cabinet meeting on Monday, the government approved amendments to the 57-year old Mines and Mineral (development and Regulation) Act. Among other changes, the amendments will allow multinational companies such...