-The Indian Express Open agricultural burning, a common practice in north and northwest India, releases black carbon due to insufficient combustion. The burning of agricultural waste around Delhi that is causing air pollution in the capital is also contributing significantly to the melting of glaciers in the Himalayas, a new study has suggested. Open agricultural burning, a common practice in north and northwest India, releases black carbon due to insufficient combustion. These...

-Business Standard Looking at economics behind agricultural households, a survey notes that 68.3% of such households still relied on agriculture as primary source of income Rural distress is a known story but a survey by NSSO has revealed the alarming level of fragmentation in farmland and unavailability of jobs. As many as 69 per cent agricultural households own less than a hectare of farmland each, making farming unviable and forcing migration to...

-The Times of India When Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi asked students of Bengaluru's Mount Carmel if the Modi government's Swachh Bharat Mission was working, he got a mixed response. An analysis of the campaign, well over a year now, shows the progress report is mixed too. Last year, on October 2, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the ambitious Swachh Bharat Mission, promising to provide toilets to Indian households that still...

In a recent Gazette notification, the Government of India has removed the controversial provisions made in the PDS Control Order that was issued in March, 2015. This means that no more there will be a ceiling placed on the number of Antyodaya cards issued by any state.   The earlier order, which was issued by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution on 20 March, 2015, says that "when...

-The Hindu Business Line A CAG audit shows that the Centre and State governments have been criminally remiss over disaster management The unprecedented and continuing rains that have broken a 100-year record and have wreaked havoc in Chennai for over a week, highlight both elaborate rescue and relief efforts as well as gaps in the existing policy on disaster planning. It is true that swift deployment of the armed forces to evacuate...