-The Asian Age As a neutral observer, I have no hesitation in saying that at this moment there is hardly any political party which could pose a political challenge to the BJP at the national level, but that doesn’t mean that there are no alarm bells for the BJP. The party, which swept not only the 2014 Lok Sabha elections but also most of the Assembly elections held after that, may...

-Frontline.in In the latest Global Hunger Index, India is bracketed in the category of countries where hunger levels are “serious”. But the policy responses on hunger and malnutrition in the country have been inadequate and faulty. In the second week of October, a few media reports in India highlighted significant data pertaining to global hunger. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) had released its Global Hunger Index (GHI), rating 118...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Diwali is a week away but the capital's air quality has already plunged to "very poor" levels, breaching the hazardous "red zone" on Sunday for the first time this season - a level, if sustained for three straight days, prompts Beijing authorities to shut factories and curb outdoor activities. Delhi's air quality index, separately calculated by CPCB and SAFAR, showed a common reading of 318 on...

-The Hindu Tiruchi: The farmers of Lalgudi block said absence of summer showers had brought down the growth of the green manure. There has been a growing awareness among farmers in raising green manure for enriching the fertility of the soil. A farmer of Peruvalanallur in Lalgudi block, V. Padmanabhan, a retired PWD Executive Engineer, said that he raised green manure — daincha — on 13 acres, for use in his paddy fields....

Expanding irrigation network in the country is considered as essential to raise agricultural production in the face of increased frequency of droughts. However, a newly released report from the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare shows that there has actually been a fall in the growth rate of net irrigated area during the recent two decades. The report entitled State of Indian Agriculture 2015-16 reveals that the growth rate in...