-Hindustan Times Mumbai: For a state considered the sugar bowl of the country and home to generations of politically heavyweight co-operative doyens, this is a sign of changing times. The drought-prone Solapur district in western Maharashtra, which has the highest number of sugar factories in the state (33), has finally decided to put a stop to cultivation of the water-guzzling sugarcane crop, with its collector saying the area under cultivation for the...

-The Hindu Business Line Though the overall price trend is declining, for many items of daily consumption, especially food, it has risen WHOlesale and consumer price indices are trending lower, but this has not brought relief to the common man. In May, the WHOlesale price index recorded negative growth for the seventh consecutive month. The consumer price index edged marginally higher in May to 5.01 per cent, from 4.87 per cent a...

-Livemint.com Rajan has indicated he will now pause, projecting consumer inflation could rise to about 6% by next January Aurangabad: Prices of many foodstuffs are surging in India, despite a good start to monsoon rains—an unexpected boon for WHOlesalers, but a major headache for the central bank and a government hoping for its help to reboot the economy. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan has cut interest rates three times...

-The Hindu These crops can fix atmospheric nitrogen through their root nodules. This reduces the use of chemical fertilisers like urea and ammonium nitrate. At a time when decreasing soil fertility especially due to indiscriminate use of chemical fertilisers and prolonged cultivation of commercial crops has become a cause for concern among farmers, legume vegetables have turned out to be a boon for addressing this issue. Scientists feel that growing the legume vegetables...

-Hindustan Times The decision to protect the Mangar Bani forest in Faridabad and a 500-metre buffer as a no-construction zone is a remarkable one. This declaration by Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar recently has been widely welcomed, and could mark a turning point in the battle between the government and environmentalists campaigning to save the Haryana Aravallis, especially the Mangar Bani. The region is under threat from real estate developers and...