-TheWire.in “The opening of the markets would bring no respite to us. There would be hardly any sales during the festive months due to financial doom," said a weaver in Dhaniekhali. Kolkata: Raju Singha Rao, a handloom sari weaver at Phulia in West Bengal’s Nadia district, has been having sleepless nights since the nationwide lockdown was announced on March 24. The financial crisis coupled with thoughts of starvation and hunger has been keeping...

-Down to Earth Locusts around 500 km away from districts. Experts say little possibility of them entering state The Bihar government’s agriculture department has begun mock drills in villages and launched an awareness campaign, over fears that locust swarms may enter the state. Ten of the state’s districts that border Uttar Pradesh were put high alert. The districts include Aurangabad, Bhojpur, Buxar, Gaya, Gopalganj, Kaimur, Rohtas, Saran, Siwan and West Champaran. The locusts...

-Hindustan Times A gradual shift towards cash crops at the expense of food crops and deficit rainfall over the years are the primary reasons behind the agrarian crisis in Maharashtra’s drought-hit Marathwada region, according to a study conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B). Published in the Environmental Research Letters in May, the study analyses the role of rainfall deficits and cropping choices in loss of agricultural yield in Marathwada. The...

-The Indian Express Madhya Pradesh has found that nearly one-fourth of the returnees were engaged in the construction sector, and almost six out of 10 of them belong to Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Scheduled Classes (SC) communities. New Delhi: In the first such detailed survey carried out by a state among migrant workers returning following the coronavirus outbreak in March, Madhya Pradesh has found that nearly one-fourth of the returnees were engaged...

-The Indian Express The Supreme Court also directed state governments and Union Territories to formulate a scheme to provide employment to workers, asking that their skills be mapped. New Delhi: The Supreme Court Tuesday directed the Centre and states to facilitate the return of migrants to their home states within 15 days, starting today. The apex court, which had taken suo motu cognizance of the issue, in its formal order said Railways...