-The Hindu Cyclonic storms on Tamil Nadu’s 1,076-km coastline are not unusual, and at least once in two years there is some disaster or the other. The common thread running through every such instance is that all claims of preparedness are invariably exposed as either hollow or woefully inadequate. The focus, as well as any claim to administrative efficiency, is solely on rescue and relief operations. What the government is able...

-The Indian Express Extended dry spell hits rabi plantings on top of failed kharif crop Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh, an agricultural success story of the past decade, is bracing itself for a rough time this year, with deficient rains resulting in the failure of the kharif crop and also putting a question market over sowing in the ongoing rabi season. The state, in recent times, had emerged as the country’s second largest contributor of...

-IANS LUCKNOW: As many as 50 of the 75 Uttar Pradesh districts have been declared drought-hit, an official said on Thursday. The revenue collections in the affected districts would remain suspended till March 31, 2016, the official added. The decision was taken by chief minister Akhilesh Yadav after assessing detailed district-wise report of the drought situation. Among the districts declared drought-hit are Faizabad, Jhansi, Sant Ravidasnagar, Lucknow, Allahabad, Mirzapur, Ballia and Ghaziabad. Extensive relief measures...

-The Tribune To ensure stable prices of pulses and attractive returns for producers, policies of domestic prices and tariffs should blend. Import duties must be calibrated with demand. As the Indian economy grows at a rate of 7 per cent plus, assuming low growth as an aberration, the food basket will diversify. Within grains, the movement will be to pulses as shown by the  expert group on pulse production. The yield and...

-The Statesman Koraput district is ahead of several others in meeting the UN Sustainable development Goal, said May East, Scotland UN fellow, while addressing the Grow Your Own Food congress organised by Thread Siddharth village and Odisha Narisamaj at Kakirigumma here. This congress and Asian Ecovillage summit has been organised under the global discussions on how to implement these goals regionally and the discussion is also based on practical work conducted by...