-The New Indian Express DHENKANAL: The farmers of the district feel discouraged to grow rabi crops after they bore the brunt of crop damage due to erratic and scanty rainfall during kharif season. Sources said farmers of almost all the blocks are not showing  interest to take up cultivation in the rabi season. Considering the plight of the farmers, the district agriculture department has decided to grow paddy in 534 hectares (ha) against...

-The Hindu City fetes Jadav Payeng and Abdul Kareem — men who built forests from scratch. Mumbai: Leaders of nations the world over devote a large part of their time, money and policy framework to the growth of the economy. But if they held their breath for a minute, they would realise it is life-sustaining oxygen that needs their urgent attention. At the recently-concluded Paris climate change conference, Jadav “Molai” Payeng, 52, known...

-Outlook Cuddalore: An agrarian crisis is silently brewing in the hinterland of Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu after being caught in a swirl of repeated disasters over the years like Tsunami, cyclones and recent rains and floods which have battered the crops, cattle and infrastructure. Across the district, the trail of destruction is striking and the demand is just the same in both urban and rural areas -- need for a robust...

 -PTI As per World Bank statistics, of the 2.4 billion people who lack access to improved sanitation globally, more than 750 million live in India, with 80% living in rural areas. The World Bank has approved a $1.5 billion (nearly Rs 10,036.5 crore) loan for the ambitious Clean India campaign to support the Indian government in its efforts to ensure all citizens in rural areas have access to improved sanitation and...

-The Hindu Chennai: Completely unprepared for disasters: the hospitals in Chennai — private as well as government — were particularly vulnerable, improvising solutions as the situation developed. As water levels rose, Chennai saw every single system associated with modern life abysmally fail —houses collapsed, roads caved in, communication networks went down, sewage pipelines were wrecked, and carcasses floated on roads. Patients in government and private hospitals across the city took a beating. Completely...