-TheWire.in A recent study in Jharkhand showed that farmers are unaware of how to correctly use different chemicals and do not use any protective gear during the process. The deaths and hospitalisation of farmers in Maharashtra raises to the forefront the question of state government culpability for its negligence in regulating the pesticide sector. The National Human Rights Commission has observed that most farmers in the country are not adequately literate and...

-The Hindu Business Line New Delhi: As floods continue ravage large parts of the country, Uma Bharti, Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, on Saturday reviewed the situation and the action being taken at the national level. After the meeting, Bharti announced that she would visit Uttar Pradesh and Bihar next week, according to an official release. “The Minister will visit Uttar Pradesh on 21st August and Bihar on...

-The Hindu The political scientist on the danger to India’s checks and balances, and the perils of the democratisation of mediocrity in universities Professor of political science and a holder of the Madan Lal Sobti Chair, Devesh Kapur has been director of the Center for the Study of Contemporary India at University of Pennsylvania since 2006. Mr. Kapur, who recently co-edited Public Institutions in India: Performance and Design, says our public universities...

-Livemint.com Farmers who opt for drip irrigation will be given loans at 2% rate of interest with a cap of Rs. 85,400 per hectare Mumbai: In a significant move, the Devendra Fadnavis government in Maharashtra on Tuesday decided to make drip irrigation mandatory for sugar cane cultivation over 3.05 lakh hectares in the state. Farmers who opt for drip irrigation will be given loans at 2% rate of interest with a cap...

-The Hindu Climate change and anthropogenic factors are having a detrimental effect on the Cauvery delta region, a study spanning almost four decades reveals The Cauvery delta region, widely regarded as the granary of Tamil Nadu, has shrunk, with cultivable lands increasingly deteriorating into waste lands — this is the finding of a recently concluded study undertaken by retired professor of the Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS) S. Janakarajan. Funded by the...