-The Times of India The empowered group of ministers headed by agriculture minister Sharad Pawar is likely to meet again on Wednesday to discuss measures to counter the impact of spreading drought. The meet, the second in successive weeks, will take place after the India Meteorological Department officially announced a 15% deficit in rainfall for the monsoon season of 2012. Pawar has just concluded his first tour of drought affected states...

-The Economic Times The rural development ministry is preparing for a big push to its flagship employment generation programme as drought has depressed demand for farm labour. The ministry has written to state governments asking them to identify development projects under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) to ensure there's enough work available for those in need.  "We expect demand for work and wages to go up in the coming...

-The Economic Times MUMBAI: Scanty rains in cotton-growing regions of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have washed away hopes of hybrid seeds growth in the country. The National Seed Association of India (NSAI) is expecting only a single digit growth between 5-7% against its previous estimate of 20% early this year.  India's hybrid seed industry, which is pegged at Rs 11,000 crore, grew nearly 15% last year. And cotton seed contributes up...

-The Hindu In a move that will have far-reaching implications, the Centre has decided to frame a National Water Framework Act with guiding principles on water laws the States may adopt. States that adopt and reform will be incentivised for water projects. That such a law would be made is buried in the pages of the draft new national water policy, which is yet to be considered by the National Water Council,...

-The Times of India India could be staring at a drought worse than the one it experienced in 2009. Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar informed that nearly half of the 624 districts had received deficient rains, another 15% experienced scanty or little rains and a deficit of 21% has been recorded across the country so far- worse than the cumulative deficiency recorded in the corresponding period in 2009. An internal review...