-TheHansIndia.com Driven by conservation concerns about the huge pressure on the water resources in the country, there is a growing debate in India about the feasibility of cultivating paddy crops. Such apprehensions are based on the premise that paddy consumes huge quantum of water and consequently it is proving to be a drain on depleting water resources in India. On an average, 2,500 liters of water is required for producing one kg...

-TheWire.in To oppose the forest department’s plan to limit open grazing, the pastoral community is formally pursuing their collective land rights through the Forest Rights Act. The sun has not yet decided to rise. It’s pitch black out but a group of Maldharis has already assembled for the last session of this year’s milking competition. Their massive buffalos are majestically adorned with intricate garlands and colourful necklaces. The panch (group of five...

-Livemint.com The increase in bank balance in Jan Dhan accounts is not extraordinary as they are being used as much as regular bank accounts, following demonetisation Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts are in focus again thanks to the new notification by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposing withdrawal limits on such bank accounts. The ostensible reason for this is concern that such accounts might be being used to convert...

-The Hindu Business Line Rabi sowing down; sales of tractors and two-wheelers dip Mumbai: The demonetisation of high-value currency notes seems to have crushed the tender green shoots of economic recovery in rural India by choking off life-sustaining money supply and impeding the wheels of commerce from spinning. From FMCG firms to two-wheelers to tractor makers, companies had been looking forward to an increase in rural demand in the wake of an adequate...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The government has declared 362 towns and cities in 15 states free of open defecation, with Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra topping the chart and Bengal scoring a duck. The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan aims to make the whole of India open-defecation-free by 2019. In Gujarat, 167 urban local bodies have been provided with open-defecation-free certificates, followed by 91 in Andhra Pradesh and 70 in Maharashtra. (See chart) &NBSp; &NBSp; "A ward...