-Outlook In addition to amending the Rules of the Forest Rights Act, greater attention needs to be paid to changing the Land Acquisition Act   There is no explicit provision in the Forest Rights Act, 2006 for obtaining permission of the Gram Sabha for diversion of forest lands to non-forest purposes. However, Section 4(5) of the Act prevents government to evict any forest dweller unless the recognition process as provided in the...

-Economic and Political Weekly The cultivation of geneticallymodified crops, especially food crops, is not just a domestic issue; it has an impact on global food trade as well. Sukhpal Singh (sukhpal@iimahd.ernet.in) is at the Centre for Management in Agriculture, IIM, Ahmedabad. There is no doubt that the application of biotechnology can lead to yield improvement, cost cutting and lower crop losses, besides providing more processable raw materials and designer products. That is why...

-PTI UN Women here on Saturday launched a campaign, aiming at ensuring greater participation of men in promoting women's rights and gender equality. "We need boys and men to work with us. ‘HeForShe' is a global solidarity movement to end gender inequality by 2030. It was launched by Union Women and Child development Minister Maneka Gandhi The goal is to engage men and boys as advocates and agents of change in the effort...

-The Indian Express In a damning criticism of the UPA government's flagship rural job guarantee scheme, the Rural development Ministry has said the scheme was reduced to "yet another government programme exploited for pure partisan purpose" and through which "participating agencies and individuals" seek "personal benefit". An internal note prepared by the office of the Rural development Minister Nitin Gadkari has claimed MGNREGA has "earned quite a bad name" due to a...

-SciDev.net   * Watershed development for farming is an ancient Indian practice * Irrigation is increasingly being seen as the answer to water scarcity * Good water management, rather than irrigation, is essential for resilient agriculture Thiruvananthapuram: Watershed development that primarily involves increasing irrigation is not the answer to water scarcity prevalent in Indian agriculture, says a new study. Watershed development (WSD) practices like soil and water conservation and small scale rainwater harvesting have been...