-The Telegraph New Delhi: Swathes of eastern India resembled a gigantic overflowing bucket for parts of this week, with several areas flooded though the monsoon rainfall in the region till September was a staggering 28 per cent below average. Twelve of the region's 15 large river-fed reservoirs were brimming with water on Thursday night. Water levels in three of Jharkhand's five large reservoirs were above the full capacity although the operators, facing the...

-The Telegraph Kolkata: The Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) had not only alerted officials in Bengal to the possibility of releasing water from two dams four days in advance but also waited until the danger mark was crossed by four feet, a senior official of the central PSU has told The Telegraph. "The claim of the state government that it was not informed regarding the release of excess water is incorrect. The state...

-The Times of India Sixty-six years after independence, India has the dubious distinction of being home to half the number of modern day slaves in the world. The first Global Slavery Index has estimated that 13.3 to 14.7 million people live like slaves in the country - roughly equal to the population of Kolkata. The index, published by the Australia-based Walk Free Foundation, ranked 162 countries based on three factors that include...

-The Economic Times Sometimes, putting one and one together does make 11, but many of us seem hardwired in our thoughts to assume rural income growth is a zero-sum game. For example, some people believe subsidies have driven the 15-20 per cent a-year growth in rural wages over the last five years. They come up with "explanations", including "people are selling land and consuming", "rising minimum support prices", and "NREGA is...

-The Hindu A warmer world may be leading to a delayed withdrawal of the Indian monsoon, hitting crop yield and affecting the livelihoods of small farmers and agricultural workers The joys of a bountiful southwest monsoon are increasingly changing to anxiety as the rains unseasonally drag on in many parts of India. "The normal rains should be from June 1 to mid-September. In fact it usually reduces by August 15, and is...