-Down to Earth We are doing too little too late We can’t breathe in Delhi. It is a public health emergency as pollutants in the air have spiked to extremely toxic levels. Officially, the air quality is in the severe+ zone, which means that it is bad for even the healthy, forget about what it will do to our children, aged and the already vulnerable. But what I want to discuss is...

-The New Indian Express Unfortunately, even MGNREGS, which is providing succour to lakhs of poor people, has also been rendered ineffective by the present government, he observed. VIJAYAWADA: Expressing dismay and concern over the delay in the payment of wages under MGNREGS and clearing the bill submitted for the works done, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu shot off a letter to Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy demanding immediate release of funds...

-Hindustan Times Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka have written to Centre seeking a relaxation of the rule restricting employment to manual labour because large parts of these 3 States have rocky terrain. New Delhi: At least three States have asked the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government to allow the use of machines in work done under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), which is restricted to manual labour,...

-The New Indian Express Sudam Sahu, a progressive farmer from Bargarh who has been growing Kalabati Dhana from 2014, collected two varieties of black rice seeds from Nayagarh which he has preserved till now. SAMBALPUR: A group of farmers in Western Odisha is not just reaping the benefit of cultivating black rice but also popularising the crop among paddy growers in the region. Black rice has a niche market for its nutritional and...

-The New Indian Express The proposed 2,000 MW Sharavathi Pumped Storage Hydroelectric project falls in the middle of the Sharavathi river valley. BENGALURU: The proposed 2,000 MW Sharavathi Pumped Storage Hydroelectric project falls in the middle of the Sharavathi river valley. The project, first floated by the Siddaramaiah government, is now being pushed by the Yediyurappa government, overriding concerns of locals, environmentalists and forest officials. Presently, the state government is seeking the Centre’s...