-Business Standard In MP, reports show sowing of wheat in the ongoing rabi season has been impacted due to low levels in reservoirs The governments of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have officially declared a drought in 270 tehsils spread across 52 districts this Kharif season, Parliament has been informed. So far in Chhattisgarh, 96 tehsils in 21 districts have been declared drought-hit. In MP, 133 tehsils in 18 districts. In Rajasthan, 41...

-The New Indian Express KURNOOL: Prices of tomatoes have crashed to as low as 50 paise per kg at Pattikonda and Alur wholesale markets of Kurnool district after a bumper harvest and low demand, leaving farmers in tears. After transporting the produce to the market by incurring a huge cost, the farmers come to know that the prices have slumped a new low.  Not knowing what to do — whether...

-PTI Over 10 crore people in the country are getting water contaminated with excess fluoride, the Lok Sabha was informed today. To deal with the problem, the central government has released Rs 800 crore so that community water purification plants could be set up, Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation Narendra Singh Tomar said during Question Hour. About 10.06 crore population living in 12,577 habitations in different States and union territories are getting...

-Hindustan Times Audit report says most food testing labs in country are ill-equipped. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), India’s constitutionally mandated federal auditor, has cited serious lapses in enforcing food-safety norms in the country, which, it said, could be putting public health at risk. A majority of the country’s food-testing laboratories were poorly managed, the report said. It found that 65 of the 72 state-wide food laboratories were not accredited to the...

-Livemint.com Rising input costs and lack of remunerative prices have turned the terms of trade against the Indian farmer While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed to retain its stronghold of Gujarat in the recent state assembly elections, it conceded significant ground to the Congress in rural and semi-rural constituencies. The results bring to the fore the problem of rural discontent, as farmers intensify their protests against non-remunerative prices for their produce...