-Outlook Bengaluru: Facing attack over the new Land Acquisition Bill, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the land records would be "reformed" for Farmers' benefit and attacked opposition for "spreading lies" that the government is working against the interests of the farming community. Addressing a public meeting here, he said his government was working to empower the Farmers as it realises that the nation cannot make progress till villages develop. Contending that he...

-The Telegraph Bhubaneswar: The state government has opposed the Shanta Kumar Committee's recommendation for direct cash transfer through the public distribution system (PDS) instead of subsidised food grain supply to the beneficiaries. Officially, the state's opposition is based on the argument that cash transfer would affect Farmers, as procurement from them would stop. However, sources said the state was worried about the move's fallout on its scheme providing rice to the poor...

-Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies World-renowned journalist P. Sainath has returned to Princeton to teach two courses, beginning this week, in the Program for South Asian Studies. The former rural affairs editor of The Hindu and award-winning "reporter" - he prefers the term to journalist - has devoted his career to telling the stories of India, uncovering the truth of social problems, rural affairs, poverty and the aftermath of...

-NDTV Lucknow: Unseasonal rain and hailstorm in March have brought Uttar Pradesh to the brink of an agrarian crisis, affecting 25 of the state's 80 districts. Crop losses have dealt a particularly severe blow to landless Farmers, who are emerging the invisible casualties of the agrarian crisis. Unseasonal rain has destroyed crops on large tracts of farmland. And landless Farmers, who usually till farmlands leased or rented from landowners, fall through...

-Frontline   The BJP-led NDA government has, in the two Budgets it has presented so far, revealed itself to be very different from the pro-Farmer image that its leading election campaigner and now Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, projected. THE Bharatiya Janata Party's manifesto for the 2014 Lok Sabha election states: "Agriculture is the engine of India's economic growth and the largest employer, and BJP commits highest priority to agriculture growth, increases in...