-Hindustan Times Dehradun: Lack of watershed harvesting and monsoon-based farming is the key reason why crop intensity of Uttarakhand is poorer than neighbouring Himachal Pradesh, experts say. The crop intensity is the number of times a crop is planted in an agricultural area. Union ministry of agriculture and farmers’ welfare data, states that Himachal Pradesh reported a 3,100 hectare difference in the crop intensity index between 2012-13 and 2013-2014 while Uttarakhand reported a...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: A petition seeking a ban on 99 pesticides already outlawed or restricted in advanced nations has prompted the Supreme Court to seek responses within four weeks from the ministries of agriculture and chemical-and-fertilisers besides the Central Insecticides Board. These pesticides are killing hundreds in India and causing serious illness to thousands, the bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud heard on Monday. Moved...

-The Telegraph Damoh (Madhya Pradesh): Students of a government-run primary school at a village in Damoh, Madhya Pradesh, were allegedly made to clean a toilet using their mid-day meal plates, prompting the district authorities to order an inquiry. The school staff have denied the allegation. A group of parents went to the school in Doli village on Thursday after their children complained that on Wednesday they were asked to clean the toilet...

-The Indian Express Delhi air pollution: The current smog and poor air quality in the National Capital Region has been blamed in part on stubble burning by farmers, especially in neighbouring Punjab and Haryana. What is the genesis of the problem? What are its potential solutions? * How widespread is crop stubble burning? It is mainly confined to Punjab, Haryana and parts of western Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, where farmers grow paddy and...

-NDTV Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan said air pollution in Delhi had gone beyond an acceptable level and would have an adverse health impact but it wasn't right to call it a health emergency. Panaji: Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan appears to question recent global studies that claim lakhs of people die in India due to pollution. Dr Harsh Vardhan told NDTV in an interview that "to attribute any death to a cause like...