-The Hindu Business Line A narrow focus on growth-led development is the cause of the world’s sustainability crisis, not its solution The world’s political leaders meet in New York today to adopt a ‘sustainable development’ agenda. On the face of it, this sounds very hopeful. It signals that finally, humanity may move towards making peace with the earth, even as it erases the shame of over two billion people still living in...

-The Indian Express The average rainfall across the country during June 1-September 22 has been 718 mm, which is 14 per cent less than the LPA of 839 mm. This year’s monsoon deficiency, likely to be around 13-14 per cent, could be listed among the five worst years in terms of rainfall, officials from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) in Pune said. In the last 40 years, the highest rainfall deficiency was recorded...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: "I hope this is not the beginning of things," said justice V M Kanade as a bench of the Bombay high court on Tuesday stayed the implementation of a controversial Marathi circular issued by the BJP-led state government on pre-conditions to be followed by police while registering sedition cases. Justices Kanade and Shalini Phnasalkar Joshi perused the circular and said, "How can these kinds of circulars...

-Livemint.com Despite reeling under a severe monsoon deficit, the region has seen a surprise fall in demand for jobs under MGNREGS New Delhi: Although reeling under a severe monsoon deficit for the second year in a row, the Marathwada region of Maharashtra has seen a surprise fall in demand for jobs under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)—the result, said experts, of years of government neglect, low wages...

-Business Standard This is our season of despair. This year, it would seem, the gods have been most unkind to Indian farmers. Early in the year came the weird weather events, like hailstorms and freak and untimely rains that destroyed standing crops. Nobody knew what was happening. After all, each year we witness a natural weather phenomenon called the "western disturbance" - winds that emanate from the Mediterranean and travel eastward...