-Down to Earth blog Overburdened drainage, frenzied and unregulated construction, no regard to the natural topography and hydro-geomorphology all make urban floods a man-made disaster The recent floods in Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh have taken by surprise both governments and people. In Patna, severe water logging has brought the city to a halt, with hospitals and residential areas filled with waist-deep water. Transport services have been disrupted, with many trains cancelled. There is...

-PTI Monsoon season officially ended on Monday. Several parts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were reeling from floods on Monday following incessant showers over the past few days. The death toll in rain-related incidents has mounted to 145 across the country. Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number of deaths — 111 since last week. Twenty-five have died in Bihar. The weather department has forecast a long delayed withdrawal of monsoon and more rains for...

-TheWire.in A sudden spike in farm fires has prompted Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to write to his Haryana and Punjab counterparts. New Delhi: With the arrival of the paddy harvesting season, there has been a sharp increase in the number of farm fires reported in Punjab. There were 107 fires between September 24 and 26 this year compared to just 11 in the same period last year, according to a report...

In the financial year 2017-18 when tractor sales touched new heights, it was said by many of the NDA (viz. National Democratic Alliance) government supporters that rural demand has revived on account of adequate monsoon rainfall and higher minimum support prices for crops. Many economists and newspaper columnists also denied the existence of any rural distress. An alternative perspective, however, was also presented by rural economists like Dr. Himanshu who teaches...

-The New Indian Express The industry has warned that this trend may continue if no stimulus is given to boost rural demand. Delayed monsoon, weak rural economy, tightened liquidity scenario, and the vicious cycle of droughts and floods have dragged down the demand for tractors, which is already witnessing slowdown since the start of this fiscal. The industry has warned that this trend may continue if no stimulus is given to boost...