-PTI “The full climate impact of rice farming has been significantly underestimated,” says lead author Rice farming across the world could be responsible for up to twice the level of climate impact relative to what was previously estimated, according to a study conducted in India. The study, published in PNAS, found that intermittently flooded rice farms can emit 45 times more nitrous oxide as compared to the maximum from continuously flooded farms...

-The Hindu The deluge in Kerala was made worse by inefficient management of 34 dams The people of Kerala have braved the worst calamity since the great flood of 1924. The floodwaters have receded from most of the affected areas barring Kuttanad. Most people have gone back to their homes from relief camps, only to find them battered beyond redemption. As the State is coming back to a “new normal” after the...

-The Telegraph Centre hikes pay, still trails many states New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government on Tuesday decided to increase the honorarium the Centre pays anganwadi workers and accredited social health activists besides those working as auxiliary nurse midwives in a move trade unions saw as an election-eve sop to cap brewing discontent. The unions have been demanding the regularisation of these workers and helpers who last got a hike in 2011. State governments...

-National Herald Talking about farmers’ issues, P Sainath said, “It is not just an agrarian crisis, it is now a national crisis. The Modi govt has been engaged in fooling the nation. They are telling lies shamelessly” The founder editor of People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), the former Rural Affairs editor of The Hindu and author of the much acclaimed book ‘Everybody loves a Good Drought’, P Sainath, has recorded rural...

-Down to Earth Can pre-poll sops like giving smart phones with internet connectivity to farmers increase farm income? Last week, thousands of farmers and agricultural workers poured into the National Capital to attract and focus the attention of the Central government to their demands. The Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Rally, organised by farmers’ organization, All India Kisan Sabha, and the All India Agriculture Workers Union, broke all records as far as crowd numbers...