-The Times of India Raipur: To make sure that no kid sleeps without food in Drought-hit areas even when their schools take a summer break, Chhattisgarh government has decided to continue the supply of midday meals during summer vacation as well. Around 26 lakh children in 117 tehsil of 25 districts will benefit with the move. An official circular issued by education secretary Subrat Sahu stated that all students of government schools...

-The Indian Express Because this time, it’s only rural producers, not urban consumers, who are feeling the heat This time’s Drought has been a most unusual one. Even with three consecutive bad crops (kharif 2014, rabi 2015, and kharif 2015) and a fourth not-so-great one (thankfully, there’s been no big damage from the unseasonal rain and hail unlike in March 2015), annual consumer food price inflation is only 5.3 per cent. In the...

-The Hindu Business Line A long-range forecast is not authoritative, but sets the mood for farmers, industry New Delhi: After two consecutive years of Drought, the monsoon this year promises to be above normal, going by an early forecast. A long-range weather forecast by climate management company Weather Risk Management Services indicates that the monsoon this year may end up 5 to 10 per cent above normal — with well-distributed rainfall over the...

-The Indian Express Yes, except that farmers suffer rules other businessmen never encounter Agriculture is said to be India’s largest private-sector enterprise, engaging nearly 119 million farmers (“cultivators”) and another 144 million landless labourers, as per the 2011 Census. It is even considered the most respectable business, going by the oft-quoted slogan “uttam kheti, madhyam vyapar, kanishtha naukri (supreme is farming, mediocre is trade and most lowly is service)”. But the exalted...

-The Telegraph The recent budget talked about the government's plan to double farm incomes in the next five years. This will be done through investments in rural infrastructure, especially irrigation. About 50 per cent of land under foodgrain production in India is irrigated. This means that half of the foodgrain producing land in India faces weather uncertainties and, hence, those working on them face annual (seasonal) variations in income. These variations...