India has toppled the us to become the second largest producer of cotton, after China, states the cotton fiscal of 2006-2007. Statistics also show that by October-end, the annual cotton farmers'

Special Economic Zones

"Sarita's away in Warangal,' Parvata Reddy told HRK. It was past 7 pm, and villagers tend to be suspicious of strangers who walk out of the dark. I moved to a well-lit portion of the courtyard. He looked closely. Better sight led to better memory. He recalled meeting me two years ago. He also remembered that Sarita was aactually in the village, and was willing to show us the way.

it has been less than two months since prime minister Manmohan Singh visited Vidarbha, Maharashtra's cotton country, with a special package for the beleaguered farmers. Since then 200 more farmers

"The Constitution guarantees the right to life and to personal liberty. The values which underlie Article 21 of the Constitution are seriously eroded by deaths on such a systemic scale, as the facts before the court in relation to the State of Maharashtra demonstrate... .

WHILE writing out the receipt for Pandurang Kadam's onion crop on April 19, the trader did not realise that it would be used as forensic evidence. The next day Pandurang returned to the Lasalgaon market and set himself on fire. The town watched in shock as Pandurang burned in the yard where a thousand farmers' hopes are extinguished every day. In his pocket, they recovered the receipt.

SIX months ago, 65-year-old Kashinath Ravan Kolge killed himself by drinking pesticide. His wife Venubai Kolge says mounting debt drove him to suicide. "He had taken a loan to dig a borewell. But we did not get any water. We had no money left. The crops were yielding very little. It was a hopeless situation."