Till recently agricultural production in the current crop year was expected to be adversely affected by drought SITuation in more than 10 states, apart from hailstorms and excessive rainfall that happened in March. However, if one were to believe a recent forecast made by the Ministry of Agriculture, the overall foodgrain production in the country this crop year is anticipated to remain almost the same as last year. In 2014-15,...

-Livemint.com Revision of drought management manual among slew of directions made by Supreme Court New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday hit the reset button on drought management, directing the government to abandon the existing system and evolve a transparent, rules-based framework. The new policy will prescribe a standard methodology and time-frame for declaring drought. The court also directed the Union government to set up a National Disaster Mitigation Fund within three...

-Business Standard/ PTI Directs Centre to constitute a national disaster response force within the next six months In a strong indictment of Centre and states' handling of the drought SITuation, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said if state governments maintain an "ostrich-like attitude", Centre cannot wash its hands of constitutional responsibility, since the "buck stops" with it. The apex court, giving its judgment on a public interest litigation by Swaraj Abhiyan on drought,...

-The Hindu Supreme Court's observations on Bihar, Gujarat and Haryana its judgment on the PIL filed by Swaraj Abhiyan on drought The Supreme Court said on Wednesday that Bihar, Gujarat and Haryana were heSITant to even acknowledge, let alone address, a drought or a drought-like SITuation. They had not disclosed the full facts about the conditions prevailing in their States. It was hearing a PIL filed by Swaraj Abhiyan seeking relief for drought-hit...

-The New Indian Express BARGARH: In the dry and dusty landscape of Kharamal village, located on the foothills of Gandhamardan hill range, two farmers depict a picture of contrast. The village comes under Jamseth gram panchayat of Paikmal block, which is often hit by drought. Vast stretches of barren land in Kharamal have lost their water retention capacity due to long dry spell for several years. Farmers SITaram Majhi and Dambru Majhi,...