-The New Indian Express BENGALURU (Karnataka): Bhoomee, a web-enabled platform for the agriculture community, and integrated with cloud, mobile and other digital technologies, intends to take information and engagement closer to farmers.An increasing number of farmers are reaping benefits of the platform. Rajanna, a farmer from Tumakuru district, got to know the price of watermelon in Bengaluru’s market through the Bhoomee platform and was able to sell his produce at double...

-Down to Earth The report emphasises the need to normalise menstruation by looking at behaviour, infrastructure, politics and perception In an aim to make India open defecation-free by 2019, many aspects of sanitation have been undermined, such as usage, maintenance and water availability. A 2015 report by Dasra, a Mumbai-based philanthropy foundation and the Bank of America highlights another key aspect ignored when it comes to sanitation. According to the report based on data...

-The Hindu District Collector in Kerala breathes new life into the Karimaramthodu Pathanamthitta (Kerala): A nearly dead natural stream in Kerala has been nursed back to life by a District Collector, who believes that “there is a stream flowing through everyone’s life.” No one imagined that Karimaramthodu, which at one time flowed vigorously around the paddy fields of Aranmula Puncha, could be salvaged after it was filled up for a private airport project. Their...

-The Indian Express A water-scarce region, Bundelkhand has been battling drought, debt and poverty for over a decade. In the past three years, “anna pashu (stray cattle)” has been added to the list, now building up to a serious crisis. The cattle have started endangering the Rabi crop. Hamirpur (Uttar Pradesh): On December 25, to mark former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birthday with ‘gau sewa’, Uma Kant, the director of BNV...

-The Times of India NAGPUR: Amid paddy growers of east Vidarbha reeling under a major pest attack, some of them who have adopted organic farming claim they could prevent losses in their fields using natural pesticides. They had gathered at a meet organized in the city by Bijotsav — an organization promoting organic agriculture. As each of them spoke about their experiences, the farmers from Gondia and Chandrapur districts claimed to have...