-The Financial Express Controlling food inflation seems to have pre-occupied the attention of the Modi government, at least for now, and it has succeeded in minimising the damage despite a poor monsoon. The Modi government had to hit the ground running as far as food and agriculture is concerned. With delayed and deficient rains in June and the spectre of El Nino, drought was looming large. Food inflation was stubbornly stuck at...

-Live Mint Half of the country by area has received deficient or scanty rainfall in the south-west monsoon season so far this year New Delhi: Half of the country by area has received deficient or scanty rainfall in the south-west monsoon season so far this year, and some experts are veering around to the view that 2014 will be India's first drought year since 2009. Overall, rainfall has fallen 18-20% short of...

-NDTV Tumkur (Karnataka): At a goshala or shelter for cows run by a private trust in Southern Karnataka's Tumkur district, its caretaker Suresh has an unenviable job. He has been instructed to serve only two portions of fodder, not the requisite meal of at least 3-5 kilograms of dry grass per day. "The smaller ones fight among themselves and they scream. Sometimes there is not enough water. I feel sad leaving...

-The Financial Express Though food inflation could be lower than last year's 11.1%, fruit and vegetable prices remain the pressure points. Concerns over monsoon have diminished a lot in recent weeks because of four positive developments. First, rainfall deficiency has reduced sharply from a century-high of 45% for June to 17% as on August 18. Second, sowing has caught up significantly from 40% below normal in mid-July to just 2.3% below normal...

-The Business Standard A delayed monsoon has forced farmers in Western UP to use alternative sources of irrigation, incurring 25-30% extra costs Saharanpur/Muzaffarnagar (UP): If the latest inflation reading at eight per cent, largely fuelled by near double-digit food inflation, has left us worried, get ready to pay even more for food in coming months. Though the monsoon deficit has reduced to only 17 per cent, the rise in input cost...