-Down to Earth Jharkhand taps its dam reservoirs and ponds to boost fish production as well as livelihood AFFLUENCE IS not a word one would normally associate with Jharkhand’s Jamukhadi village, which falls in one of India’s 250 most backward districts. But almost all the houses in the village have TV sets, computers and motorbikes. “There were only a few pucca (brick) houses in our village till 2000 when the state was...

-Business Standard Weather forecaster Skymet says good winter rains are expected over most parts of India in the next few days Sowing of wheat in the week ending January 15 was less than last year, because of less sowing area in the rainfed areas of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Low residual soil moisture and unusually warm weather in this season has impacted rabi sowing in these parts. However, with the weather turning cold in many...

-Hindustan Times Chandigarh: First, the good news. Punjab has made a record contribution of rice to the central pool. During the 2015-16 crop season, the state contributed 93.5 lakh tonnes to the public distribution system (PDS). Now, the bad news. To grow one kilogram of rice, as many as 5,337 litres of water is required ‑ more than 260 buckets of 20-litre capacity. The water consumed by rice for the central pool...

-The Times of India MYSORE: With the Centre taking multiple measures to fulfill its clean Ganga mission, the country's premier atomic research body - Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) - has offered membrane-based water treatment system to clean the national river. The department of atomic energy (DAE) in its presentation on Monday at the Indian Science Congress gave details of the system, describing how BARC is already providing technical support to the...

-The Hindu Ahmedabad: With less than normal monsoon this year, Gujarat is set to face a major water crisis in summer as most of the dams and reservoirs in the State have less than 50 per cent storage. Chief Minister Anandiben Patel has already declared that the farmers should not demand water for irrigation this year as the available water will be used only for drinking. Except the Narmada dam in south...