-Hindustan Times The Narendra Modi government’s new agenda for the crisis-ridden farm sector is being geared towards achieving the single goal of doubling agricultural incomes — a legacy of its first term in office. Prime Minister Modi had ambitiously promised a 100% jump in farmers’ incomes between 2017 and 2022, but farmers have been hobbled by unprofitable sales and even negative returns on some crops, as farm produce continue to sell below...

-Business Standard Every day before 5 am and after 10 pm, 40-year-old K Kasturi and her husband leave their home in Mylapore, Central Chennai, in search of water with eight vessels. If they are lucky, they may be able to fetch water from hand pumps or taps in five vessels after walking 1-1.5 km. This is the only source of water to drink, cook, wash, clean and bathe for them. This is...

-The Indian Express “Last year, we recorded fire incidents till May 26 and the figure was 11,468. This year were are recording till May-end as the harvesting of wheat was delayed due to untimely rains,” said Anil Sood, head of the ACM Division, PRSC, Ludhiana. Jalandhar: Stubble burning incidents in Punjab have crossed the 2018 figure despite the efforts of the state government to stop farmers of burning their fields post...

-Hindustan Times The CPCB itself has been given a month’s time to publish the guidelines for restoration water bodies, not presently protected by any national legislation which protects water bodies more than 2.5 acres in size. Gurugram: The National Green Tribunal (NGT), last week, instructed all states and Union territories to follow Haryana’s example and create detailed inventories of water bodies not already protected by any law, review their existing framework...

-Hindustan Times It is also important to remember that both these laws were the product of sustained, grassroots-level social movements. Consequently, perhaps the surest remedy against possible future dilution may lie not in judicial challenges (although that remains important), but in popular mobilisation. With the 2019 general election yielding a decisive mandate for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), attention will soon turn to the new government’s legislative agenda. As the government is...