-Deccan Herald Patna: It’s a double whammy for Bihar. While 11 districts face the threat of floods due to a surge in the Ganga, the remaining 27 districts, out of 38, are on the verge of being declared drought-hit. The data procured from the Met department shows that Bihar has witnessed abysmally low rainfall this monsoon. Against a normal average rainfall of 803 mm, Bihar has received only 635.9 mm rainfall since...

-Hindustan Times Parbhani: It took Pandurang Shinde three trips to the weekly Khandoba cattle bazaar in Parbhani, one of the eight drought-hit districts of Marathwada, to find a buyer for his pair of bullocks. After much heckling, he managed to sell his coveted pair at Rs 50,000, half the price at what the animals had cost him. The weekly cattle bazaar, held on Thursdays, at Parbhani taluka is packed these days, full...

-DNA Govt gears up to ring-fence farmers, prices from poor rains India's farm sector shrank for the first time in five years in the year ended March 31, Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh said on Wednesday, a day after the government forecast a likely drought this year that could hit output again. The Met office cut this year's monsoon forecast on an El Nino weather pattern that has raised fears of...

-The Indian Express Unseasonal rains are breaking the back of Indian farmers. The prime minister has taken the first step by deciding to raise the existing norms of compensation by a hefty 50 per cent - from the existing Rs 9,000 per hectare for irrigated crop, Rs 4,500 per ha for unirrigated crop and Rs 12,000 per ha for perennial crop. Further, the compensation will be given to all those who...

-The Hindu Met department forecasts more rains, residents move to safer areas Srinagar remained on the edge throughout Monday with thousands of shopkeepers moving out goods from their shops and people ferrying their families to safer areas as the water level in the Jhelum kept rising till this evening. Though the rain stopped early on Sunday morning, the Meteorological Department has forecast more rain, with heavy showers expected all through Wednesday, fuelling fears...