-India.mongabay.com * After the drop in wheat production due to heat waves, extreme weather events have now cast a shadow on rice production, which is likely to drop beyond centre’s initial 6% loss estimate. * In six years (2015-21), the country lost 33.9 million hectares of the cropped area due to floods and excess rains and 35 million hectares due to drought, which are likely to intensify as various studies predict. * Centre...

-The Hindu Business Line Production of Gobindobhog rice is estimated to be 5-7 per cent higher this year on the back of a better-quality crop giving a better paddy to rice conversion rate West Bengal’s premium variety of aromatic rice — Gobindobhog – has witnessed a near 11 per cent decline in prices on the back of prospects of arrival of a higher crop and better quality produce. The imposition of 20...

-The Telegraph Struggle to reduce cases in 6 districts The Bengal health department is finding it tough to pull down the dengue positivity rate to under 10 per cent in at least six districts, including Calcutta, because of the paucity of civic and rural workers with the skill to track and destroy mosquito breeding pockets. Among Bengal districts, the dengue positivity rate this week is the highest in Calcutta, followed by Jalpaiguri, Hooghly,...

-The Telegraph The National Pension System is a disaster for retiring employees, says an apex body of various government unions; pension under existing scheme just 15% of that under earlier one A federation of Central government employees’ unions has written to the Cabinet Secretary to restore the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), stating that the National Pension System (NPS) is a disaster for retiring employees in their old age. The federation said a Defence...

-NDTV.com There were a "series of lapses", authorities have said, including the use of "substandard" materials for the renovation of the BRIdge in Morbi. Morbi, Gujarat: There were a series of lapses in the renovation of the pedestrian BRIdge in Gujarat's Morbi which collapsed four days after it was reopened, killing 135 people on Sunday, the police have told a court, seeking the custody of those accused. Here are 10 lapses that authorities...