-The Business Standard According to the department of agriculture, there were chances of an agriculture drought in about 35 districts across the country The southwest Monsoon is continuing its weak run. For the week ended Thursday, it was 25 per cent below normal. This was a consecutive week when rains have been below-normal. A few parts of north India, however, recorded floods due to heavy rain in the Himalayas. According to a real-time assessment...

-The Business Standard A delayed Monsoon has forced farmers in Western UP to use alternative sources of irrigation, incurring 25-30% extra costs Saharanpur/Muzaffarnagar (UP): If the latest inflation reading at eight per cent, largely fuelled by near double-digit food inflation, has left us worried, get ready to pay even more for food in coming months. Though the Monsoon deficit has reduced to only 17 per cent, the rise in input cost...

-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...

-IPS News MALKANGIRI (Odisha)- Scattered across 31 remote hilltop villages on a mountain range that towers 1,500 to 4,000 feet above sea level, in the Malkangiri district of India's eastern Odisha state, the Upper Bonda people are considered one of this country's most ancient tribes, having barely altered their lifestyle in over a thousand years. Resistant to contact with the outside world and fiercely skeptical of modern development, this community of under...

-The Hindu Reason: inordinate delay in sanctioning of funds by Centre Theni (Tamil Nadu): Thousands of labourers, who registered their names with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), in rain-fed and drought-prone areas of the district are jobless due to the inordinate delay in sanctioning of funds by the Centre. The delay has not only stalled ongoing works but also affected implementation of new ones, according to officials in village...