-The Hindu Business Line A long-range forecast is not authoritative, but sets the mood for farmers, industry New Delhi: After two consecutive years of drought, the monsoon this year promises to be above normal, going by an early forecast. A long-range Weather forecast by climate management company Weather Risk Management Services indicates that the monsoon this year may end up 5 to 10 per cent above normal — with well-distributed rainfall over the...

-The Telegraph The recent budget talked about the government's plan to double farm incomes in the next five years. This will be done through investments in rural infrastructure, especially irrigation. About 50 per cent of land under foodgrain production in India is irrigated. This means that half of the foodgrain producing land in India faces Weather uncertainties and, hence, those working on them face annual (seasonal) variations in income. These variations...

-The Indian Express The number of arhtiya suicides may not be anywhere close to those by farmers, but they do suggest a certain trend. When prices of commodities, be it basmati rice or cotton, were good, farmers planted with gusto. The ongoing agrarian crisis has spread beyond farmers to consume even arhtiyas or grain commission agents, as a report in this newspaper from Punjab has shown. The number of arhtiya suicides may...

-The Hindu Determining whether extreme Weather events are caused by climate change is crucial in planning for risks. Else, we will reach a situation in which corrective action may not be enough to protect us Over the past several years, headlines on Weather-related extreme events have included heavy downpours followed by floods, droughts, storms, heat and cold waves, and wild fires. Such events typically destroy lives, property and ecosystems while stretching the...

-Business Standard While allocations to several social sector schemes have been increased, concerns about the direction of the funds being ploughed remain The health and education sectors have trudged along the last two years awaiting direction that would be set through new policies the National Democratic Alliance government promised. In the absence of these guiding documents, most observers have been left to read the intermittent policy decisions like tea-leaves to guess the...