-The Hindu Business Line The North-East monsoon could reactivate ‘aborted landslides’ in hilly areas Thiruvananthapuram: While managing dams and reservoirs, Kerala should opt for an approach that maximises power generation by suitably incorporating weather prediction needs. This is one of the major highlights of a survey of the damage from the August floods by a team headed by Thomas Oommen, geoscientist and Associate Professor at the Michigan Technological University. Shutter opening The survey was carried...

-The Hindu Business Line They account for a third of the agricultural workforce, but don’t get the benefits and opportunities the menfolk enjoy India celebrated its first Women Farmer’s Day on October 15, but the word farmer or kisan is still seen as being synonymous with a male farm worker. This perception is built on two assumptions — first, farming is a masculine profession; and, second, when women are involved in farm...

-The Hindu Farm equipment which can root out this practice not universally accessible despite govt. subsidy Patiala: Between September 27 and October 14, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) imposed Rs. 8,92,500 as fines — or “environmental compensation cess” as it is officially called — on farmers burning paddy stubble. However, they collected only Rs. 3,05,000, according to figures from the organisation. “The fines are collected over time … frequently the farmers don’t...

-The Hindu Business Line The gel, poly-Oxime has been prepared by InStem researchers from nucleophilic polymer New Delhi: Indian farmers usually do not wear any protective gear while spraying chemicals in fields. This exposes them to harmful toxics contained in pesticides, causing severe health impacts and even death in extreme cases. Indian scientists have now developed a protective gel to address this problem. The gel can be applied on skin and can break...

-The Hindu The draft report of the Murli Manohar Joshi-led Estimates Committee on “measuring growth, employment and income” asks the government on how it can address the critical issue of unemployment if it does not have “real time” and “holistic” data. A report by a parliamentary panel headed by BJP MP Murli Manohar Joshi, questioning the reliability of employment data collected by the government, has been stalled following protests by other BJP...