-Economic and Political Weekly The Indian weaver is dismissed in high places as an embarrassing anachronism, despite demand for his or her skills and products. In the new millennium, globalisation and a mindless acquiescence to imported notions of a good life threaten to take over, even as the West looks East for better concepts of sustainable living. Analysing today's crisis in the handloom sector, plagued by low-cost imitations from power looms,...

-The Times of India HYDERABAD: Telangana appears to be heading towards a drought. Half of the monsoon season is over and apart from the initial days of rainfall, the state has had a dry spell. Water levels in reservoirs are dropping rapidly and many towns are facing a drinking water crisis. In rural areas, the crisis is in the form of dying crops and a looming threat of fodder shortage. In fact,...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: After a wet June, when other systems had countered the adverse effects of El Nino, monsoon took a drier turn in July and the month ended with a countrywide rain deficit of 17%. However, kharif sowing remained robust, boosted by good rain spells in several parts of the country. With the dip in rains, monsoon's performance in the first half of the season — June 1...

-Business Standard Skymet says rains will be normal in August Southwest monsoon has shown marked improvement over central and eastern parts of India in the past few days, narrowing the cumulative deficiency for July to 15 per cent from a high of 50 per cent. However, the situation is worrisome in parts of central Maharashtra, Marathwada, Rayalseema region of Andhra Pradesh, some districts of Telangana, and north interior Karnataka, where the total seasonal...

-PTI NEW DELHI: The country has received only 83 per cent of rainfall in July with the situation in parts of central and southern India remaining particularly grim, even as the weatherman predicted an improvement in the situation in coming days. "Until now, July has witnessed minus 17 per cent of rainfall," India Meteorological Department (IMD) Director General Laxman Singh Rathore said. He, however, said that there was no need to panic as...