-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The monsoon is likely to remain strong through the month of June, the India Meteorological Department said on Thursday, as another storm system developed over the Bay of Bengal, promising widespread rain across central and south India over the next four-five days. As on June 18, the monsoon was 10% above normal, mainly on account of excess rains over central India, the southeastern coast and parts...

-The Financial Express To deal with the possibility of a deficit monsoon, the agriculture ministry has suggested sowing of short- duration varieties of paddy, pulses, oilseeds and other less water-intensive crops in the northern India regions for curbing possible crop losses. In its first advisory for the northern Indian region, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), a premier institute under the ministry of agriculture, has suggested transplanting of short duration paddy varieties of...

-Livemint.com The mismanagement, abuse and displacement of water need to be addressed to solve the real crisis in front of us It’s the time of the year when everyone starts talking about the heat—how hot it was today and what it’s going to be like in the coming days. The forecast by the India Meteorological Department does not bring any comfort. Scientists are predicting a below-normal monsoon because of El Niño,...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government has granted the military permission to test missiles targeting four ecologically fragile islands in the Andaman and Nicobar group in the Bay of Bengal, junking a UPA policy derisively known as "birds-over-bombs". The islands are uninhabited or largely uninhabited for most of the year, a source in the defence ministry claimed. Environmental organisations such as the Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore, claim the islands are home...

-Deccan Herald There have been protests by several organisations of fishermen, including those of deep-sea artisanal fisher folk in several coastal states against the recommendations of an expert committee that reviewed India's marine fishing policy and the existing guidelines for deep-sea fishing in the country's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The Union agriculture ministry's Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries (DAHD&F), through an order on August 1, 2013 constituted an expert committee...