-Frontline There are no effective vaccines against Japanese encephalitis, but its spread can be controlled in India through vector management.  JAPANESE ENCEPHALITIS, or JE, has become endemic in many parts of the country, occurring repeatedly in epidemic form in many of them—for instance, in parts of Gorakhpur in northern Uttar Pradesh. One can expect JE-type epidemics year after year in States where prolonged drought-like conditions are followed by heavy monsoons. This leads to...

-The Economic Times AHMEDABAD: Wheat output may remain stable this season due to remunerative prices and sufficient water availability. However, agriculture officials feel that the delay in announcing wheat MSP for rabi season might deter farmers. "We don't see a drop in wheat acreage this year and the production should clock similar to that of previous year's 93.90 million tonne. It will be too early to say that the area will increase...

-The Hindu Cyclone ‘Nilam' caused unprecedented damage to Srikakulam district which is still under grip of fear with the heavy inflows to Vamsadhara and Nagavali rivers. Bahuda and Mahendra Tanaya rivers are also in full spate with heavy rains in the catchment area of Odisha. Almost 80, 000 acres of crop got damaged and 43 villages were inundated in the district. The officials of all the mandals have been alerted to...

-The Times of India LUCKNOW: In a development that further establishes the poor state of the Ganga, an inter-ministerial group (IMG) at the Centre is all set to classify the holy river in the 'C' (poor) category. The categorization is likely to be done in view of a report submitted by IIT-Roorkee which found that in the coming days 84% of the water flow in the river will either be diverted...

-IANS BANGALORE: Karnataka is facing a drought and water levels in reservoirs across the Cauvery river basin have dropped due to deficit rains, a Central Water Commission (CWC) official said on Saturday. "I have realised that there is drought in Karnataka due to deficit rainfall and water levels in the reservoirs of Cauvery are lower than last year due to a weak monsoon," CWC member KC Jacob told reporters here. Assuring the state...