-The Hindu ADT-39 variety has been planted and 60 prisoners involved in raising the crop TIRUCHI: Expanding farming activity on its vast stretch of lands, the Tiruchi Central Prison authorities have gone for paddy cultivation. Paddy nurseries were planted on two acres of jail lands by engaging convicts recently. Prison authorities said the ADT-39 variety had been planted and the harvest would be done in three months. Ahead of taking up this activity,...

-Economic and Political Weekly The importance of hand-washing in personal and public hygiene has evolved over the centuries. While the market with its countless number of soaps and hand-wash products for personal hygiene with the accompanying advertising has created a false sense of security, it is community hygiene implemented through public health measures that is really effective in the battle against disease. Lekha D Bhat (lekhabhatd@gmail.com) teaches at the Department of Social...

-Livemint.com Telangana 9th state to declare drought, adding to the agrarian crisis and posing a threat to the rural economy New Delhi: Telangana has declared a drought in parts of the state, becoming the ninth state this year to do so, highlighting the agrarian crisis that could cause a likely fall in the production of rain-fed crops such as pulses, oilseeds and cotton, and result in a further slowing of the...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: Nearly 55% of Maharashtra's population lives in its rural belt compared to 45% in its urban areas. Yet its cities and metros get almost five times more drinking water as its villages from the state's dams, notified rivers and select lakes. The data which reveals the stark rural-urban divide in the allocation of drinking water has been compiled by the state's water resources department. In urban areas,...

-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...