<p>Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of Arun Tiwari Vs State of Uttar Pradesh dated 06/05/2024.</p> <p>In the application, the allegation is of illegal mining of soil upto 10-15 mtrs.
State stands to gain from welfare schemes announced for minorities Roughly four lakh farmers in Kerala are expected to gain from the debt relief measures announced by Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram's farmer-friendly budget. Since the huge majority of farmers in debt in Kerala are marginal (holding below one hectare) and small (below two hectares), their debts could be totally waived. And a sizeable number of them will be from two districts, Wayanad and Idukki, and most of them will be the so-called
The district collector, Mr K. Devanand, on Friday asked rain-affected farmers to make good use of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) to harvest the remaining crop. The district collector said this while launching the programme in the fields of Allur village in Prakasam district. The biggest damage was suffered by the chickpea crop in the district and 5,392 acres were damaged in the sea-coast Kothapatnam mandal alone. Besides this, 2,400 acres of cultivated lands were damaged in Allur village. Mr Devanand said agriculture workers would be deputed for two days in chickpea fields and three days for tobacco harvesting.
This article emphasizes the virtual synonimity of agriculture security, food security, farmers' security, and security of the rural sector, and the importance of ensuring the above to ensure national security.
Developing economies, specifically India, are appearing on the world retail industry radar due to the size and potential of their markets. As organised retail presents enormous business opportunities, big names such as Reliance, Birlas and Tatas along with the foreign supermarket chains (in partnership with Indian companies), have been making an entry into this sector.
Rice is the most important Kharif crop of Punjab. With the increase in production of rice there is concomitant increase in the production of residue (rice straw), which is approximately 18.75 MT. About 80 percent of the rice residue it burnt in the fields, particularly after harvesting rice by combine harvesters.
A diagnostic survey was conducted in rice-wheat and maize-wheat blocks of Bulandshahr district for identification of tillage and other related soil physical constraints in farmers' fields.
The World Bank (WB) would provide 25 million dollar for Balochistan Small-Scale Irrigation Project (BSSIP), which will support efforts by the Government of Balochistan (GoB) to improve the management of scarce water resources in the Pishin Lora Basin (PLB) by reducing the overall impact of the present water crisis. The project's objectives include increasing surface water availability and reducing groundwater depletion, increasing water productivity through a combination of engineering, management and agricultural measures and expanding local capacity and participation of farmers to implement similar schemes and formulate plans for sustainable water resources development and watershed management. The project will focus on the PLB in the northern part of Balochistan. The project will follow three components that include partial restoration of the water storage capacity, developing small-scale irrigation schemes in the PLB and strengthening and building the capacity of the Irrigation and Power Department, water management institutions, and farmer and community organisations, and implementing studies. The project can contribute to strengthening provincial water management capabilities. The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors approved the credit with maturity of 35 years and 10 years grace period. Copyright Business Recorder, 2008
Cash-rich Haryana has earmarked Rs 2,800 crore for power subsidy to farm sector for the year 2008-09, surpassing even Andhra Pradesh, which has earmarked Rs 2,385 crore for free power supply to the farmers in its 2008-09 Budget presented this month. From Rs 400 crore six years back, it is a seven-fold leap for Haryana which is paying an average of Rs 40,000 per tubewell for the nearly 4.3 lakh tubewells in the state. Though Haryana, unlike neighbouring Punjab, does not dole out power free to the farm sector, but subsidises it at 25 paisa per unit. As a result, the farmer pays less than Rs 4,000 per tubewell to the power utilities and nearly 10 times the amount (Rs 40,000) is borne by the state Government. An estimated Rs 300 crore out of the Budget outlay of Rs 2,800 crore for power subsidy is due to the hike in the cost of generation and transmission of power, official sources in Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) said. "The estimate for power subsidy for 2008-09 is Rs 2,800 crore, against Rs 2,132 crore last year. Though we are able to afford it, subsidies cannot go on endlessly,' said Haryana Finance Minister Birender Singh. "We are mulling over ways to reduce power subsidy burden. At a recent Cabinet meeting, we discussed the proposal of providing power subsidy directly to farmers instead of the power utilities, on the lines of Union Finance Minister's view on providing direct fertiliser subsidy to farmers. It will also help us adjudge the magnitude of transmission and distribution losses which are passed on as power subsidy by the power utilities of the state,' he added. Interestingly, Haryana, unlike Punjab, which was recently directed by its state electricity regulatory commission to clear subsidy arrears of the last few years, is also very prompt in making payments for the power subsidy to the power utilities, which are made twice in a month and even weekly. However, even after footing a huge subsidy bill, the state has failed to ensure that there are no defaults in payments by farmers. The present Congress regime had announced Rs 1,600 crore waiver for arrears of rural domestic and agriculture categories of consumers in the year 2005. "The waiver scheme was an effort to support the farmers to join the mainstream. It was not a blanket waiver, but one aimed at encouraging farmers to pay their current bills for 20 months without fail after which their arrears will be waived off,' says Haryana power secretary Ashok Lavasa. About 60 per cent of defaulting farmers have joined the scheme, which till the last review meeting of the power department, has generated close to Rs 350 crore for the state. However, according to a World Bank report on Haryana power subsidy, they are proving counterproductive for the farm sector, which has to endure the frustration and economic costs of supply that is both unreliable (not available at predictable times) and of poor quality (with fluctuating voltage).
ABOUT 200 acres of land in the Boro Beel area at village Ratugram under Durgapur upazila in Rajshahi remained uncultivated for the last several years due to water-logging. Local people said the water stagnancy created in the bil due to closure of the water drainage channels, depriving local farmers from cultivating crops. The huge land of the water body remains under water every year because of floods and heavy downpour in the rainy season in the absence of sewage outlet, local farmers said. Earlier, two canals were dug in the southern and northern sides to drain out water from the bil. But several influential local people filled up the canals with earth in 1997 and started cultivation of onion, IRRI paddy on the land, creating water stagnancy in the bil area. Many farmers of Ratugram, Kayamajampur, Badail and Ujalkalsi villages have their land in the bil and are being deprived of cultivating crops. The farmers said the authorities concerned should take initiatives for re-excavating the closed canals. 'If the authorities take immediate step, we could cultivate boro paddy on our land during the current season,' said a farmer.
