-Hindustan Times Lucknow: Not just buffalo meat, Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow is fast heading towards a non-vegetarian crisis as entire chicken, Goat Meat and egg markets have begun shutting down. While more than 80% markets of non-vegetarian items already downed shutters on Friday, various traders’ associations have declared strike from Saturday. Under the circumstances, vegetable prices, which were on the decline for last one week, are likely to register a steep hike. “The indefinite...

-The Hindu In all the States belonging to the Hindi heartland, less than one per cent of Hindus eat beef/buffalo meat. The number of Indians eating beef and buffalo meat went up from 7.51 crore in 1999-2000 to 8.35 crore in 2011-12 while the total household consumption of beef/buffalo meat went down from 4.44 crore kg per month to 3.67 crore kg in the same time period. These findings come from National Sample...

-The Indian Express But per capita meat consumption remains relatively low. This has implications for nutritional and food security. In the eyes of the world, India is seen as a vegetarian country. Presumably, this impression has been created by our best brand ambassadors from political, spiritual and yoga circles. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a strict vegetarian. The popular yoga guru, Baba Ramdev, and many other Hindu religious leaders too, are vegetarians...

Situation alarming: More than one-third population hit by drought   The country is facing severe drought for the second consecutive year. Conservative estimates from official sources show that over a quarter of rural habitations are facing drinking water scarcity. Although both India Meteorological Department and Skymet have predicted a more than normal rainfall during June-September, 2016, the water storage available in 91 major reservoirs of the country has declined from 22 percent...

-Livemint.com Except for Brahmaputra and Mahanadi, all river basins with a population of more than 20 million face water shortage for the major part of the year New Delhi: How much water does it take to cook a cup of rice? Recipe books would say two cups. Now consider this: It takes 2,173 litres of water to produce a kg of husked rice. That is a global average. Out of this,...