-Down to Earth Can pre-poll sops like giving smart phones with internet connectivity to farmers increase farm income? Last week, thousands of farmers and agricultural workers poured into the National Capital to attract and focus the attention of the Central government to their demands. The Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Rally, organised by farmers’ organization, All India Kisan Sabha, and the All India Agriculture Workers Union, broke all records as far as crowd numbers...

-PTI Many rivers including Periyar, Bharathapuzha, Pampa and Kabani, which were in a spate during the days of flood, are now getting dried up and their water level has decreased abnormally. Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala): With mercury levels rising and abnormal drying up of rivers and wells reported in flood-hit Kerala, the state government has decided to conduct scientific studies on the post-flood phenomenon in the state. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has directed the state...

-The Hindu Gives water-release patterns of only Idukki and Idamalayar New Delhi: The Central Water Commission (CWC), in its report on the role of dams in the Kerala floods, has omitted analysis of the operations of the Mullaperiyar dam, the contentious reservoir located in Kerala and operated by Tamil Nadu. It has, however, detailed descriptions of the water-release patterns in the Idukki and Idamalayar dams on August 15, 16, and 17, when...

-The Hindu CRPF Director-General R.R. Bhatnagar says the force is getting closer to the core areas of the extremists, cutting down the striking distance and striking time. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has opened 15 new security camps in Chhattisgarh’s South Bastar this year to choke the presence of Maoists, CRPF Director General R.R. Bhatnagar said. Speaking to The Hindu, he said South Bastar or the Dandakaranya Special Zone Committee (DKSZC), led...

-Frontline.in Four years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of the Namami Gange project, the river remains as dirty as ever. WHILE in Varanasi to file his nomination papers for the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Narendra Modi, then the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) prime ministerial nominee, had declared with his characteristic bravado, “I have not come here on my own. I have been invited by mother Ganga.” He said it was his...