Nearly 1200-1500 farmers from across Punjab, under the banner of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Rajewal), on Tuesday began their indefinite protest on the Mohali-Chandigarh border after they were denied entry to Chandigarh. They sat on the road leading from Sector 43-44 in Chandigarh towards Phase VIII in Mohali But a large contingent of police, from both Chandigarh and Mohali, had since early morning closed the road even for regular traffic. The...

With more than 60% of Bihar reeling under drought-like conditions and the state recording 20% rainfall deficit, the government is set to declare over two dozen districts drought-hit, officials said on Monday. "The state cabinet in its meeting Tuesday will formally declare more than two dozen districts drought hit," said an official of the state disaster management department. Vayasji, principal secretary of disaster management department, told IANS that the drought...

Farmers across the southwest belt of Haryana and northern Rajasthan have this year sown cotton on a large scale moving away from paddy, the traditional crop in this region. Due to the unavailability of canal water in certain areas in this region, farmers have also moved from sowing Bt cotton to desi (local) cotton which requires less water. The trend has largely been seen in the districts of Fatehabad, Bhiwani,...

The UN has said what the Congress had been bragging all the time. The international agency has hailed India’s rural job guarantee scheme, one of the flagship programmes of the UPA government, saying that it has reduced poverty and reversed inequality. The UN Development Programme (UNDP) in a report titled “What Will it Take to Achieve Millennium Development Goals? An International Assessment,” says the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme has...

It is a double whammy for farmers of Indravati irrigated pockets of Kalahandi. If delay in release of water into the canals was not enough, the administration is yet to arrange for proper marketing facilities for procurement of Dalua (summer) paddy. The monsoon is knocking at the door but farmers are yet to harvest their crops. Besides, no marketing facilities have been provided for the already harvested paddy raising apprehension...