One man stands surrounded by the debris of agricultural distress in this country: Sharad Pawar. In his second term as Agriculture Minister, he faces the formidable task of redeeming himself by solving the farm crisis that has claimed so many lives in India
DR MANMOHAN Singh is an honourable man. He is soft-spoken, decent and, unlike most Indian politicians, he did not seek high office to line his pockets with ill-gotten wealth. For that alone, we in India, who continue to suffer consistently at the hands of dark politicians who steal from us, should be eternally grateful.
From his lookout atop an 80- foot-tall tree, Gopal could see the forests in three states burning simultaneously last fortnight. Even though fires are not unusual at this time of year in the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve (NBR)
MONOCROTOPHOS, A common pesticide, is also popular among some Indian farmers for a grimmer purpose: acutely toxic for humans, yet dirt-cheap, it is the instrument most farmers have chosen to end their lives with. A dubious claim to fame for the pesticide industry, even as its effectiveness in pest eradication is highly questionable.
SAVE THE Aravallis: a slogan that like so many others stirs little response until the cost of ignoring it hits home: no electricity, no water, no construction material and, worst of all, no rain and the daytime temperature perpetually above 50 degrees Celsius.
