Parts of Kerala have been receiving rains since this morning. Weather watchers attribute the slight delay in the onset of monsoon to Typhoon Mawar which was active in a western Pacific Ocean off the Philippines South-west monsoon, the key to the agriculture driven trillion-dollar Indian economy, is on course and is expected to drench Kerala by Wednesday thereby bringing much-needed relief to farmers, reports PTI. “Monsoon is round the corner. Parts of...

-The Hindu The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) have joined forces to adapt new measures to tackle the growing climate related risks and constraints that prevail in rural areas. Learn from people The two organizations and their partners emphasized adoption of a different perspective and approach by listening, observing and learning from the people that they are supposed to help with...

An expert panel has blamed the increase in commercial plantations for destroying forests, erosion of soil and water bodies in the Western Ghats. According to a Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel report, which was submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) by its Chairman, Prof Madhav Gadgil, water guzzling crops and monoculture plantations such as tea, coffee, and cardamom are responsible for depleting forest wealth. “These crops have aggravated the...

-The Hindu “Elimination of child labour is an article of faith to us” The Centre is committed to protecting the welfare of children, Union Minister for Labour and Employment Mallikarjun Kharge said here on Sunday. “Elimination of child labour is an article of faith and commitment to us,” he asserted. He was happy to point out that there had been a sharp decline in the number of children in the age group of...

With an eye to mainstreaming sustainability, rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has reached out to the United Nations Development Programme to suggest ways for 'greening' rural development schemes and programmes. "We are spending Rs 99,000 crore this year on rural development programmes and it would be a shame if we don't mainstream green objectives in these programmes. Rural development programmes offer a huge opportunity to deal with green concerns and challenges...