-The Hindu Business Line In view of the distortions arising out of excessive price support, direct income transfers to farmers is a better option The domestic debate has tended to conclude that the rise in MSP announced in the Budget is an essential part of achieving the government’s objective of doubling farm incomes. But MSP stands for minimum support prices and is an instrument designed for reducing income volatility, not for raising...

-The Hindu An estimated 10 million people in nine districts of West Bengal drink arsenic-laden groundwater. Priyanka Pulla finds that despite alarms having been sounded over decades, the State government has moved at a glacial pace to tackle the crisis, while people struggle to cope with the symptoms On a Thursday morning at the government primary school in Madhusudankati, a village in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district, a gaggle of five-year-olds...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: About 239 million people across 153 districts in 21 states drink water that contains unacceptably high levels of arsenic. In effect, they are being slowly poisoned. Calculations based on information provided by the water resources ministry in response to a question in the Lok Sabha reveal that 65% of Assam's population, or about 21 million people, is drinking arsenic-contaminated water, while it's 60% in Bihar...

-PTI Over 10 crore people in the country are getting water contaminated with excess fluoride, the Lok Sabha was informed today. To deal with the problem, the central government has released Rs 800 crore so that community water purification plants could be set up, Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation Narendra Singh Tomar said during Question Hour. About 10.06 crore population living in 12,577 habitations in different states and union territories are getting...

-Mumbai Mirror A behind the scenes look at what’s driving the region’s return to traditional paddy techniques. It’s certainly not the global shift towards organic cultivation. A recent study conducted by Harvard University has established that consuming just one cup of white rice (polished rice) a day can put you at risk of diabetes, regardless of your nationality or whether you have a family history of the disease. Bhairav Saini lives in...