-Livemint.com/ AP Hundreds of millions of people in at least 13 states are reeling from severe drought, a situation that is expected to worsen in the coming months Shahapur: Shantabai Babulkar’s day begins before dawn with a 5 kilometer trek across barren fields and dusty scrubLand to fetch water from a distant well for her family. The two metal pots of muddy water that Babulkar, 58, balances on her head and a...

-The Times of India Rice varieties that could grow during droughts or floods, tolerate saltwater, and carry distinct aromas or medicinal benefits - India has lost 1.10 lakh such traditional rice types. Some fifty years ago, these varieties abounded in the country, which is striving currently to ensure food security for all. Now, however, only 7,000odd local varieties remain and not all are grown. A traditional variety of rice is passed from...

-The Indian Express The villagers’ ire is rooted in being isolated from the rest of the district for seven years. Tindharay: Fifty kilometres from Darjeeling town, roads snaking through tea-laden hills lead to Tindharay. It’s a nondescript village like many in the Darjeeling hills. But Sunday, as North Bengal voted, Tindharay did not do so — or at least not for any political party. The single polling booth in the village, located in...

-Theweekendleader.com/ Women's Feature Service Purulia (West Bengal): It was ironical that Purulia district often found itself on the West Bengal government's 'drought-hit' list when the average rainfall here is 1100mm-1500mm. The failure to conserve water as well as poor agricultural practices meant that despite back-breaking labour in the fields, farmers could only achieve six months' food sufficiency. Today, however, all that is changing thanks to a water management revolution led by ordinary village...

-TheWire.in The number of jobs created in eight select industries in 2015 was 135,000. This was much worse than the 421,000 jobs created in 2014 and the 419,000 in 2013. Here, when I use the shorthand “jobs” it means both jobs and livelihoods for self-employed people. In the farm sector, most “jobs” are livelihoods. In the non-farm sector too, outside of the organized sector, much of working opportunities come as self-employed livelihoods...