-The Times of India Gurgaon: More than 6,000 trees have allegedly been axed in the ecologically sensitive Aravalis after the additional chief secretary (forest), in a written order, granted permission to clear the green cover spread across 52 acres of land. According to local villagers, six earthmovers felled the trees to clear the land near a private university in Faridabad within a few hours. "The work started on Saturday night and by...

-The Indian Express Punjab’s unique cattle breeding-cum-milk sale dairying model is under threat from gau rakshak activism and the Centre’s new animal trading rules. Randhawa and Gill are amongst Punjab’s many dairy farmers who have made the state into a major supplier of not just milk, but also milch animals. Gurdaspur (Punjab): “When there’s no land in our name, how would we now buy or sell cattle? Are they saying we...

-The Hindu Business Line High inputs costs, low price for produce and water scarcity are major challenges Mumbai: Despite the Rs. 34,000 crore farm-loan waiver in Maharashtra, farmers’ lives are unlikely to change for the better as they will continue to be up against familiar problems such as high input costs, low prices for their produce, and scant water availability, say farm sector experts. They are of the opinion that the core issues...

-The Indian Express Kishore Tiwari, who heads the government-appointed Vasantrao Naik Shetkari Swavlamban Mission, said the farmer suicides would stop once the waiver takes effect. Pune: Even as the Maharashtra government has announced loan waiver for farmers, as many as 42 farmers have ended their lives in the last two weeks. This, government officials said, highlights the magnitude of rural distress in the state. According to the Aurangabad divisional commissionerate, which...

-The Hindu The plant species is known for its nutritional value Hyderabad: Stylosanthes hamata, a perennial leguminous plant commonly known as Caribbean Stylo, could play a vital role in feeding lakhs of sheep to be distributed among people of certain castes by the Telangana government. The fact, however, that the plants would be grown on thousands of hectares of forest land is inviting criticism from environmental and wildlife activists. While it has been the...