-The Hindu   Kannur (Kerala): The ‘kaipad' rice cultivated in the brackish water tracts of northern parts of the State has been included in the Geographical Indications (GI) registry in the country which is part of the Intellectual Property regime. The notification of inclusion of the ‘kaipad' rice varieties in the GI registry followed an application submitted by the Malabar Kaipad Farmers' Society (MKFS) of Ezhome here. The society has been formed for...

-The Telegraph   Paddy may not be the climate culprit that the world is making it out to be Agricultural scientist Pratap Bhattacharyya may have found a remarkable piece of evidence that absolves swathes of paddy fields stretching over millions of hectares of a climate crime. On the contrary, he believes that rice is doing its bit for the environment. A study by Bhattacharyya and his colleagues at the Cuttack-based Central Rice Research Institute...

-The Asian Age "The replacement of the rich diversity of Punjab with monocultures of rice in the kharif season and wheat in the rabi season has also contributed to the impoverishment of the soils and farmers" The year 2014 marks the 30th anniversary of Operation Bluestar, a military operation which took place in June 1984 in Punjab. It was ordered by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to remove Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Localized air pollution, posing an environmental and health challenge, has been linked to the presence of 'heat islands' in Delhi - pockets which are significantly warmer than their surroundings. A study of these localized 'hot spots', compiled after a controversy over a Delhi versus Beijing pollution scare, revealed that vehicular congestion in conjunction with highly built-up areas is creating worrying levels of pollution, affecting a significant...

-The Business Standard Chulhas - cook stoves of poor women who collect sticks, twigs, leaves and every other biomass material they can find to cook meals - are today at the centre of failing international action. The concern is that women are breathing toxic emissions from the stove and that these same emissions are also adding to the world's climate change burden. The Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 established that...