Paucity of monsoon rainfall alone is not a sufficient determinant of drought, maintains the World Meteorological Organisation.
All ministers in Maharashtra will contribute one month's salary towards drought relief in the state, where a dozen districts are reeling under acute water scarcity.
Despite severe drought in fiscal 2002-03, India's agricultural output is enough to sustain the country, Union Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh said on Thursday.
Stalin, along with cadres of the DMK and other parties, came in a procession in Tiruvarur and was detained in a marriage hall, police said, adding they will be let off later.
Yadav asked the centre to send tankers in large numbers to the parched Bundelkhand region for supply of water from dams and canals there.
Opposition parties Nationalist Congress Party and Samajwadi Party on Wednesday demanded reservation for OBCs in the women's reservation bill and questioned the reason for calling a special session when the bill cannot be implemented before census and delimitation.
Amid the furore over holding IPL matches in drought-hit Maharashtra, India's limited over skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni said shifting matches will not resolve the perennial crisis as it requires a "long-term" solution. "If you see, all these questions are good to hear, I think for us it's more important to seek long-term solutions," said Dhoni when asked about his views about the prevailing drought in Maharashtra. The dire situation over potable water in the state has sparked a raging debate over the suitability of playing IPL games in the state, besides leading to a PIL filed in the Bombay High Court challenging the use of large quantity of water for maintaining pitches despite the grave water crisis. There have been demands to shift all IPL matches out of Maharashtra.
Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Wednesday began his three-day tour to take stock of four drought-hit states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Karnataka.
As of now, monsoon rains are deficient by 21 per cent across India, affecting sowing of kharif crops. Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and West Rajasthan have been the worst-hit regions this year.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Sunday urged his successor D V Sadananda Gowda to immediately release Rs 200 crore for providing employment to people in drought-hit areas under National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
Italy's Matteo Arnaldi produced a sensational performance to take out sixth seed Andrey Rublev and reach the last 16 of the French Open on Friday.
A big fan of Aamir Khan, the eight-year-old was inspired after he made a donation to the chief minister's relief fund
A look at the best batters in the RCB-KKR game on Friday, March 29, 2024.
While the Centre asserted the situation could be handled effectively, chief ministers sought additional funds to deal with the situation. The country as a whole has witnessed a rainfall deficiency of 29 per cent as on Monday and the number of districts reeling under drought or drought-like condition has gone up to 207.
'Over 50 crore Indians are currently suffering from a livelihood crisis, something to which the whole country had shut its eyes to for the past six months.' 'We woke up only after the IPL was affected.'
Sanju Samson and Dhruv Jurel struck unbeaten half-centuries to power Rajasthan Royals to an emphatic seven-wicket victory against Lucknow Super Giants.
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A class 5 girl student died of heat stroke on Tuesday after repeated trips to nearest hand pump in drought-hit Beed district of Maharashtra.
Farmers organisations and pro-Kannada organisations staged protests in Mysuru, Mandya, Bengaluru and other parts expressing their anger and urging the state government not to release water to Tamil Nadu.
With mercury level soaring, Kerala is likely to face drought-like situation amid fears of drinking water scarcity and power crisis in the poll-bound state as water bodies are fast drying up.
'...than the youngsters who are playing currently and Rohit Sharma as T20 batter and captain versus Hardik Pandya, the T20 batter, all-rounder and captain.'
If the situation demands, the prisoners from drought-hit Beed and Latur districts will be shifted to places like Nashik and Dhule.
Hockey India's long-serving CEO, Elena Norman resigned from her post on Tuesday, February 27. Norman steps down after holding the position for nearly 13 years.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Tuesday that the country was facing a drought threat. India's vital monsoon rains have been 29 per cent below normal since the beginning of the June-September season, hurting crops such as rice and sugarcane and triggering a sharp rise in food prices.
Former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Friday urged the central government to announce Rs 5,000 crore interim package for taking up relief works in drought-affected areas in Karnataka.
The Cauvery Water Management Authority has asked Karnataka to continue releasing 5,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for another 15 days, a senior jal shakti ministry official said on Monday.
The EGoM meeting, attended by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and Food Minister K V Thomas among others, reviewed the situation in drought-hit states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
This is the fourth year of drought in Marathwada in the past five years. Each of its 8,522 villages have been affected for two consecutive years.
As many as 61 per cent of the land mass of the United States is currently being characterised as being impacted by this drought, the Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack, told reporters on Wednesday at a White House news conference, noting that this drought is having an impact in crops.
New Zealand have never beaten South Africa in a Test series in nearly a century of trying and will rarely have a better chance to break that drought than in two matches against a severely depleted side starting on Sunday.
"It is our good fortune that Maharashtra got a chief minister who has pledged to solve the water crisis. His political will is really strong," Aamir said.
Any long dry spell could cause moisture stress in the standing crop during the crucial maturing stage and also make it prone to pest and disease attacks.
Apart from the human body, human food will bear direct repercussions. From staples such as wheat, to coffee, dairy, and even the great Hilsa face the threat of reduced supply due to the extreme heat.
Poor monsoon has shattered the hopes of revival in India's economic growth.
Even as thousands of people are reeling under drought in Telangana, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is organising an Ayutha Maha Chandi Yagam on a scale that is unprecedented.
The rains in August have also led to speculation that if the trend continues, rains in September, the terminal month of the four-month monsoon season, could be better, thus aiding production of paddy and other kharif crops.
A eight-member central team, headed by Joint Secretary in Union Agriculture Ministry E K Majhi, will visit drought-hit districts of West Bengal on Wednesday.
Drought looms as large this year as it did in 2009, even as attempts to play down its impact surface.
"Decision is already there that whichever commodity will be in short supply, to maintain demand-supply mechanism, we shall go for imports," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said addressing state agriculture ministers here. Already, there is a short supply of pulses and edible oil, he pointed out.
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