-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Concerned by the future projections of water availability in India, the government is mulling the legislation route to save the scarce resource from depleting any further. It plans to come out with a new draft National Water Framework Bill - on the lines of the one in effect in Europe - and improvising on the existing draft law of 2013. Since water is a state subject,...

  Seven journalists from English and Hindi media from Delhi, Chandigarh, Jharkhand, Haryana, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh have been selected for the prestigious Inclusive Media-UNDP Fellowships 2015. The fellows will take time off from routine journalism to spend time with rural/ marginalized communities to highlight their anxieties and concerns that require wider coverage and public attention. The fellowships cover costs of news gathering, logistics and incidental expenses up to Rs 150,000. The...

-Hindustan Times A ban on slaughter doesn’t automatically lead to a flourishing cow population, an HT analysis of government data has found, with states like Madhya Pradesh — where cow killing is outlawed — reporting a more than 40% decline in their numbers in rural areas over a decade. Between 2003 and 2013, at least nine states registered a significant decline in the ownership of cows by the rural households, according to...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Nearly half of the country's 676 districts are in the grip of drought due to deficit monsoon rainfall, but most of the affected states have so far not even approached the Centre for assistance after doing their ground surveys. Since agriculture is a state subject, the states' casual approach may not only adversely impact farmers who have already lost their kharif (summer) crops due to less...

-Financial Chronicle Return for farmers could grow as overall output of cereal crops has remained stable With growing health awareness and relatively lower costs, millets are making a strong comeback after experiencing negative growth for several years. Millets, which are coarse cereals, need less water and are hence preferred by farmers in areas where there is a shortage of water. The crop is also favoured because of its productivity and short growing...