-Down to Earth Ammonia concentration in the atmosphere over India is the highest in the world due to cattle population and excessive fertilizer use, says study A satellite study of airborne ammonia gas has revealed four major hotspots over productive agricultural regions across the world. Increased atmospheric ammonia is linked to poor air and water quality. Using data from NASA’s Atmospheric Infrared Sounder satellite instrument, researchers led by the University of Maryland...

-Livemint.com Farm loan waivers are a bad idea. They were a bad idea in 2008 when the UPA was in power, and continue to be so in 2017 with the NDA in power Several parts of India are in the grip of an agrarian crisis. In part, this is because of the cumulative effect of bad monsoons. Farmers in many parts of India are still dependent on the annual rains which were deficient...

-The Hindu Why it’s essential that the Supreme Court speedily hears the Aadhaar petitions There are several conflicting accounts of precisely what transpired when senior advocate Shyam Divan made a request late in March for an early hearing of a batch of petitions that question the validity of the unique identification scheme, implemented through the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 — or the Aadhaar...

-The Hindu Sangam, which went on air in 2008, continues its two-hour broadcast in Telugu and reaches out to people of 150 villages in Telangana Musligari Nagamani, a farmer, is listening to the radio sitting a few inches away from her as she cooks dinner on firewood in her tiled-roof house. The broadcast in Telugu is peppered with local colloquialisms and slang. This is how evenings are spent in most houses in...

-The Indian Express Out of India’s 1.25 billion people, 65 per cent are aged 35 and under, and about half the total population is yet to turn 25. What is in the mind of this unmatched youth demographic? A year ago, the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) in partnership with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) conducted a sample survey-based study that sought to answer key questions about how India’s...