-IANS The reverse-osmosis water purifier at home seems to be a benign invention, allowing people to drink clean, Healthy water. But now scientists are warning that rampant use of the RO technology could pose a serious threat to public Health. One of the most popular water purifying technologies in India, the RO process is efficient in terms of filtering out toxic substances like arsenic and fluoride, especially in areas where groundwater is...

-The Indian Express Poorly designed policies are largely to blame for farm distress Successive governments have transformed an unevenly prosperous rural society to one which is evenly distressed. Small and marginal farmers now feel worse off than the landless. Most suicides have taken place in the families of such farmers, especially those with no source of non-farm income. For the sense of desperation that now pervades rural India, all political parties are...

-The Indian Express Among the Modi government’s many hits was one crucial miss — agriculture. The Narendra Modi sarkar’s performance in the first year has at least five major achievements and one major miss. To ensure that this neglect does not become its Achilles’ heel, the Modi sarkar will have to focus on and initiate reforms in this weakest link in the chain — agriculture. Else, it will not let the Indian...

-The Hindu The growth-at-all-cost mantra has left a vast majority of people impoverished. If the first year of the BJP government is any indication, its five-year stint may turn out to be the worst period for India’s environment and ecosystem-dependent people since the 1980s. This is saying a lot, given that none of the previous governments has been particularly sensitive to issues of fresh air and water, productive soil, Healthy forests and grasslands....

-The Times of India The scorching summer continued to claim lives in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, with as many as 165 more deaths reported on Sunday, even as the soaring mercury broke records in other parts of India. The sunstroke toll in the two states has now touched 500. And, there is likely to be no early respite from the killer heat as India Meteorological Department extended the severe heat wave warning...