Till recently agricultural production in the current crop year was expected to be adversely affected by drought situation in more than 10 states, apart from hailstorms and excessive rainfall that happened in March. However, if one were to believe a recent forecast made by the Ministry of Agriculture, the overall foodgrain production in the country this crop year is anticipated to remain almost the same as last year. In 2014-15,...

-The Times of India It would be fair to the impoverished tribals of Attapadi if both chief minister Oommen Chandy and CM-in-waiting Pinarayi Vijayan get their acts right before politicizing the tribal issue and blaming Prime Minster Narendra Modi for 'insulting the people of Kerala.' A detailed study done by research scholars of Chittur College, Palakkad - analyzing the livelihood status of tribes in Attapadi block revealed that the Human Development...

-Business Standard/ PTI Directs Centre to constitute a national disaster response force within the next six months In a strong indictment of Centre and states' handling of the drought situation, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said if state governments maintain an "ostrich-like attitude", Centre cannot wash its hands of constitutional responsibility, since the "buck stops" with it. The apex court, giving its judgment on a public interest litigation by Swaraj Abhiyan on drought,...

-Livemint.com New Delhi: Despite widespread drought in 11 states across the country, India’s foodgrain production is actually set to grow marginally, the third advance estimates released by the agriculture ministry on Monday showed. Total foodgrain production in 2015-16 is estimated at 252.23 million tonnes, marginally higher than 252.02 million tonnes produced in 2014-15, the data shows. If the estimates hold up, it would imply that the damage to the agrarian economy is less...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Centre today urged the Supreme Court to dismiss Congress Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh's petition challenging the Aadhaar law, contending that an act passed by Parliament was immune from judicial challenge. "The fact is that the law has been passed as a money bill and the Speaker has confirmed it. It is immune from any judicial challenge," attorney-general Mukul Rohatgi told a bench headed by Chief Justice...