-The Business Standard In parts of Odisha, Assam and Uttar Pradesh, the crop has already seen substantial damage Chandigarh: Heavy rains in major growing areas are taking a toll on the paddy crop. In parts of Odisha, Assam and Uttar Pradesh, the crop has already seen substantial damage. Officials in the agriculture departments of these states are compiling data on the actual extent of the flooding. It is estimated up to 40 per...

-The Hindustan Times The entire framework for monitoring environmental compliance is being dismantled systematically. This is a process that actually began with the UPA government, which replaced the feisty environment minister Jairam Ramesh with the more pliant Jayanthi Natarajan. With industry lobbies still crying wolf, she too made way for Veerappa Moily, the petroleum and natural gas minister, without the UPA seeing anything contradictory in someone holding both those responsibilities. In just a month,...

-The Times of India In a sternly-worded letter dashed off to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Andhra Pradesh government has urged the institution to not underestimate the distressful conditions prevailing in the state for the past three years, which has forced as many as 6,792 farmers to commit suicide. The nine-page letter dated July 25, countering RBI's argument about AP reporting no cases of acute concern among farmers, has been...

-Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Earth Science Ministry of Environmental and Forests (MoEF), Govt of India had undertaken the Indian second National Communication to UNFCCC during 2009-2011(NATCOM-II). The communication had been a national effort which involved many multi-disciplinary scientific groups. Ministry of Earth Sciences carry out scientific studies on climate change and variability under Global and Regional Climate Change (GRCC) programme. Under GRCC programme of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Earth...

-The Hindu Kochi: The task of mechanising agriculture operations in the marshy fields of coastal Kerala will soon become a reality. As part of its efforts to revive the traditional practice of Pokkali farming, the Kerala Agriculture University has developed a machine that enables mechanised transplantation of paddy seedlings in Pokkali fields. Along with this, the varsity has also developed a combined harvester for Pokkali fields, which is being fine-tuned after on-field...