-The Telegraph New Delhi: Heat trapped by tarred roads and dense clusters of buildings may have added nearly 2 degrees to temperatures in the world's most populated cities, including Calcutta, Delhi and Mumbai, over and above the effects of global warming, researchers said today. Their study, described as the first to quantify the combined impacts of global warming and the "urban heat island effect", suggests that the overheated cities will face double...

-The Hindu Millet traders plan to approach Finance Ministry for relief; tax rate will not only affect consumers, but also farmers Bengaluru (Karnataka): The 5% tax on hulled grain, under the Goods and Service Tax (GST) to be rolled out from July 1, is going to be a dampener for many. For the first time, millet rice is coming into the tax bracket, and this will make it dearer for consumers. Known for...

-Hindustan Times An RTI query revealed that Patanjali’s Divya Amla Juice and Shivlingi Beej failed to meet the quality standards. The lab report said 31.68% of foreign matter was found in Shivlingi Beej and amla juice had less than the prescribed limit of pH value. Nearly 40% of Ayurveda products, including items from Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali, were found to be of substandard quality by Haridwar’s Ayurveda and Unani Office, a Right to...

-TheWire.in Without functioning hand pumps or any government intervention, villagers are being forced to drink contaminated water, exposing them to skin infections and diseases. Bundelkhand: Bundelkhand region, which is spread over 13 districts of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, has often been in the news due to acute drinking water shortage. As the heat wave intensified and the water crisis peaked in many parts of the region, I spent three days  –...

-Hindustan Times When the Government of India issued an ‘extraordinary’ notification on Tuesday, restricting the sale of cattle for slaughter in animal markets and imposing rules that put a majority of the country’s animal markets in danger, it willy-nilly hit much more than the meat industry. New Delhi: It is easy to frame rules banning the slaughter of the cow, its progeny, its distant cousin the water buffalo, and its passing acquaintance...