Multiple factors have contributed to a surge in the fodder prices that have jumped three times within one year across several states in north India. From devastating heatwaves affecting production of wheat (later used as fodder), scarcity of water, farmers' preference for mustard crop, and and inter-state ban on fodder movement, an unprecedented fodder crisis is forcing cattle rearers to sell their cattle at throwaway prices, or abandon them. Here's a ground report from Rajasthan, the state with the second highest cattle population in the country.

Twenty five good samaritans do all they can to help wounded stray animals in rural Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh. With no help from either the government or the village inhabitants, these volunteers use their own resources to provide medical aid to the injured animals. Details here.

The Mahabodhi Temple is the foremost among the four major pilgrimage sites for Buddhists. The other three are Lumbini, his birthplace; Sarnath, where he delivered his first sermon; and Kushinagar, where he attained Maha Parinirvana.

Exactly two years back, on March 25, 2020, the nationwide lockdown came into force. Millions of migrant workers from rural India were stranded in cities without a place to stay, and with no food nor other means. Hundreds of thousands of them walked back home. Two years on, Gaon Connection caught up with these migrant workers and found their wounds haven't healed and their scars run deep.

On May 11, 1998 India successfully carried out underground nuclear tests at a site three kilometres away from the Khetolai village in Pokhran. Twenty four years, the village that made India a global leader in nuclear energy, has little drinking water, barely functioning health centres and a problem of drug dealing and gambling. A ground report.