-Livemint.com Amid all the gloom, the lower inflation rate and commodity prices could bring some respite With the southwest Monsoon retracing, concerns about the deficiency of rainfall and its impact on the economy are increasing. The 15% rainfall deficit makes it the second consecutive year of less-than-normal Monsoon dotted with some unseasonal showers. Together, this would have multiple ramifications on economic growth. Both macroeconomic and sectoral analysts have turned cautious and some...

-Livemint.com Despite reeling under a severe Monsoon deficit, the region has seen a surprise fall in demand for jobs under MGNREGS New Delhi: Although reeling under a severe Monsoon deficit for the second year in a row, the Marathwada region of Maharashtra has seen a surprise fall in demand for jobs under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)—the result, said experts, of years of government neglect, low wages...

-The Indian Express It needs to restructure its agriculture, develop sustainable cropping patterns. Laxman Singh Rathore and his entire team in the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) need to be complimented for giving us sufficient warning, well in advance, about the likelihood of yet another year of deficit rainfall. Although it was not good news, the messenger kept its honesty and boldness in speaking the bitter truth. On April 22, in its...

-Business Standard This is our season of despair. This year, it would seem, the gods have been most unkind to Indian farmers. Early in the year came the weird weather events, like hailstorms and freak and untimely rains that destroyed standing crops. Nobody knew what was happening. After all, each year we witness a natural weather phenomenon called the "western disturbance" - winds that emanate from the Mediterranean and travel eastward...

-Down to Earth With only 58 per cent rainfall this season, Maharashtra is likely to face one of the worst agrarian crises ever As the fear of drought looms large over India, Beed district in Maharashtra’s Marathwada region is gearing up to face one of its worst agrarian crises this year. Matters have come to such a pass that the residents of Gangamasla village in the district have threatened self-immolation to protest against...