-Firstpost.com Gaighata (North 24 Parganas): West Bengal accounts for 1.04 crore out of India’s 1.48 crore population harmed by arsenic. At present, 20 percent of the state’s population is vulnerable to arsenic-related ailments like skin cancer, and heart and lung diseases. Out of 12 affected districts in West Bengal, the most seriously affected areas are in North 24-Parganas (21 blocks), South 24-Parganas (12 blocks), Nadia (17 blocks), Hooghly (21 blocks), Malda...

-Hindustan Times Farming must become sustainable since agriculturists are struggling to build resilience against many threats I spent international women’s day in Mangalagiri, in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, with Usha Rani. As a single mother for 17 years, she has raised two children (now in second-year college and in high school). Three years ago, she switched to natural farming. On less than half an acre, she practises multicropping, growing maize, banana,...

-The Hindu Business Line With people too busy collecting it, attendance at poll meetings is thin It’s the schedule of Water tankers, and not the time and availability of political bigwigs and national leaders, that is determining the timing of election meetings and rallies in Maharashtra’s drought-affected regions. With the drought intensifying and paucity of Water rising, over 3,117 Water tankers, as against just 391 in March 2018, are plying in 8,000 villages...

-TheWire.in The delta has shrunk by 20% because of diversion of land and climate change. Water-intensive agriculture and industrial practices are adding to the problem. Despite being one of the oldest Water-regulator structures in the world that is still functional, the Kallanai dam or the Grand Anicut looks almost empty with not much Water to regulate. Located near Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu, it was built across river Kaveri around 2000 years ago...

  Growth in rural wages not only indicates economic prosperity of the masses, it is also considered important so as to generate effective demand for goods and services, which is produced by various sectors of the economy. When money becomes available in the hands of rural workers due to government spending on programmes such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), it generates demand for commodities. The production of commodities...