-The Hindu Swaraj Abhiyan is seeking to create awareness of the SC judgment and citizen’s entitlements. Latur: It’s a quarter past seven in the morning in the small village of Khandapur in Latur district. In the small window of time before the pleasant morning sun turns into unforgiving heat, a small group of people are gathered in a street next to the gram panchayat office. A group of volunteers from the Yogendra Yadav-led...

-The Hindu States asked to exempt pulses from Value Added Tax and other local levies to control prices The government is considering banning futures trading in chana dal (brown chickpeas) and reducing import duty on sugar as part of its efforts to rein in inflation, according to a top official. Higher food prices, led by pulses and sugar, pushed wholesale price inflation into positive territory in April after 17 months of decline while...

-The Indian Express Drought poses major setback to Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in Maharashtra. Pune: Ekurke was a success story that inspired many. In 2013, this village in Osmbanabad district’s Kalamb tehsil built 350 toilets in a short span of one-and-a-half months to end the shame of having to defecate in the open. The concerted efforts by the villagers led to the transformation of their village once “infamously dirty” into one where each...

-The Indian Express Why pulses aren’t the first choice of Marathwada’s farmers despite higher prices this time. Latur: About two years ago, Guruling Modi took 10 quintals of tur (pigeon-pea), a crop he had grown for the first time on his two-acre holding, to the market yard at Latur. “I got a price of just Rs 4,200 per quintal, despite my produce being of the best quality. After expenses of Rs 35,000...

-The Hindu Business Line Affected states to undertake construction of farm ponds, adopt micro-irrigation New Delhi: The Centre has asked drought-affected States to prepare action plans on a weekly basis to tide over challenges such as shortage and scarcity of drinking water, promote conservation efforts and prudent usage of existing water resources. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his recent meetings with the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat,...