-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Changiram, a farmer from Kota's Darbheeji village, had sown his four-hectare land with wheat, investing around Rs 80,000 in seeds, fertilizers and labour. He expected to earn around Rs 4 lakh. But unseasonal rains and hailstorms in March damaged more than 70% of his crop, leaving him insolvent and staring at a bleak future. Changiram's plight mirrors that of tens of thousands of farmers across the...

-The Hindu Index to provide data on level of pollutants in 10 cities across India Amid growing concerns over deteriorating air quality in India's major cities, the government on Monday launched the National Air Quality Index (AQI) that will put out real time data about the level of pollutants in the air and inform people about the possible impacts on health. Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the two-day conference of Environment...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: A fifth of all elementary school teachers in the country do not have the requisite qualifications to teach young children. If this doesn't shock you, take a look at what's going on at the state level. In a wide swathe starting from all eight states of the North-East (including Sikkim), through West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and up north in J&K, the share of...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Community radio stations are fuming at what they see as a double whammy from the government: a diktat to publicise its flagship social schemes and an attempt to monitor the content being aired. The community radio stations have been "advised" to base their programmes around Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet schemes such as the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao and Jan Dhan Yojana, Union information and...

-Deccan Herald There have been protests by several organisations of fishermen, including those of deep-sea artisanal fisher folk in several coastal states against the recommendations of an expert committee that reviewed India's marine fishing policy and the existing guidelines for deep-sea fishing in the country's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The Union agriculture ministry's Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries (DAHD&F), through an order on August 1, 2013 constituted an expert committee...