-Livemint.com Agriculture is not only crucial for what happens to growth, inflation and rural distress, it is also politically important given the simmering discontent among farmers in the last two years Last week, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) declared that the south-west monsoon has covered the entire country, 15 days earlier than normal. This may be a cause for celebration considering the distress in agriculture in the last four years. Agriculture is...

-Business Standard In the case of paddy, the current bout of rain should push transplanting crops from nurseries in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, eastern Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar Mumbai/ New Dehi: The southwest monsoon, after a relatively lull phase, has become active over the past two days in belts of eastern, central, northern and western India where mainly pulses, oilseeds, cotton, and paddy are grown. There are forecasts of heavy to very heavy rain. In...

  The outcome of a social audit (conducted in April this year) related to the pilot cash transfer programme in the public distribution system (PDS) in Nagri block (Ranchi district) has confirmed that most beneficiaries want back the normal ration system that existed previously. Yet the Jharkhand state government continues with the DBT-based PDS in Nagri block, instead of returning back to the older system, says a press release by the...

-The Hindu Demand for potable water will outstrip supply by 2030, says study The NITI Aayog on Thursday released the results of a study warning that India is facing its ‘worst’ water crisis in history and that demand for potable water will outstrip supply by 2030 if steps are not taken. Nearly 600 million Indians faced high to extreme water stress and about 2,00,000 people died every year due to inadequate access to...

-Scroll.in Some believe the ‘peculiar’ thunderstorms and dust storms are because of a change in the pattern of winter storms, or rising heat. Several of India’s northern states – particularly Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi – have experienced a spate of severe thunderstorms and dust storms with strong winds and lightning in the past month. The storms have killed over 124 people and left a trail of devastation. According to the Indian...