-Livemint.com Raman Singh govt requests Centre for nearly Rs4,000 crore in assistance to carryout relief operations New Delhi: Chhattisgarh has become the sixth state to declare a drought and the fourth so far to seek central aid. The state government said that 25 of its 27 districts have been drought-hit. Earlier, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh declared a drought in 110 of their districts. “Based on a prima facie evaluation, the cabinet...

-Hindustan Times Chandigarh/Patiala: After a bumper Paddy crop, the fields are on fire in Punjab and Haryana, polluting the air with hazardous particles. Strangely, there wasn’t much hue and cry till a thick blanket of smog — a mixture of smoke and fog — enveloped Delhi, making city residents breathless. It’s the farmers of the two food-bowl states who are being blamed for the sudden deterioration in air quality and smog in...

-The Indian Express It is said the pollution from burning Paddy straw is a factor in Delhi's poor air quality. Chandigarh: The burning of Paddy straw continues unabated in both Punjab and Haryana with authorities in both the states unable to check the menace. With the harvesting season at the fag end, the farmers are now clearing their fields by burning the Paddy straw causing air pollution. It is said the pollution from burning...

-The Indian Express Government cannot afford to wait any longer to address the building agricultural distress. The government and the political class seem oblivious to a deepening farm crisis, resulting from back-to-back monsoon failures and falling crop prices. One indicator of the growing agrarian distress is farmer suicides, no longer a phenomenon confined to Vidarbha or Telangana. The current year has seen farmers even in states like Karnataka, Odisha and Madhya...

-PTI Chandigarh: Farmers in Punjab and Haryana continue to burn Paddy stubble in their fields ignoring warnings by state authorities, thus posing health risks and adversely affecting soil health. Both the Punjab and the Haryana governments have imposed a ban on burning Paddy residue which could lead to prosecution of erring farmers. However, reports from various parts of the two states suggest farmers still burn Paddy straw despite being asked time and again...