-Down to Earth State-level workshops will be conducted to help users interpret data from the system A new satellite-based drought-monitoring tool will be able to indicate the presence of drought and its level of severity, providing authorities the maximum possible lead time to put mitigation strategies into place in India and across South Asia.  In India, the South Asia Drought Monitoring System (SADMS) was developed by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and...

-The Hindu How significant is the development of the Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11 (DMH-11)? Why are some activist groups opposing the commercial release of the crop? What are their allegations? How many transgenic crops are commercially cultivated in India? The story so far: The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), India’s apex regulator of genetically modified plants and food products, has approved the environmental release of Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11 (DMH-11), a genetically-engineered variant of...

-The Hindu Proposal to go for Environment Ministry’s clearance; activists oppose The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) that functions under the Union Environment Ministry has yet again cleared the proposal for the commercial cultivation of genetically modified (GM) mustard. The recommendation will now again go for the approval of the Environment Ministry. Though the GEAC had cleared the proposal in 2017, the Ministry had vetoed it and suggested that the GEAC hold...

-TheWire.in * Debal Deb began conserving indigenous varieties of rice in the 1990s after realizing that they were losing cultivation ground to other varieties preferred by the Green Revolution. * In an extended interview with The Wire Science, he explained what makes a crop resilient, why farmers should be considered scientists, and the perils of technological solutionism. * Deb also spoke at length about the problems with the Green Revolution and its troubled...

-The Telegraph With the funds blocked, I’ve been unable to pay some suppliers who want to be paid before they supply again, says a scientist Dozens of scientists who had been invited from positions abroad to join academic institutions across India under a prestigious government fellowship have not received research grants or salaries for months, the fellows and other scientists have said. The delay in the release of funds for the Ramalingaswami Fellowships,...