-Business Standard Marriages on hold, children being returned from schools over unpaid fees; the rural economy is bearing the brunt of unseasonal rains, a crisis in the sugar cane sector and a fall in prices of farm pro Hapur/ Meerut: In the mid-afternoon, when most farmers are returning home to rest, Rana Ranjit Singh is sweating buckets on his farm in Uttar Pradesh's Hapur district, searching for vegetables left undamaged after untimely...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: A study to analyze women who have undergone preventive health check-ups across the country show that anaemia and vitamin D deficiency are rampant across different age groups. Both may lead to several ailments, ranging from mild aches and fatigue to bone diseases and even cancer. As many as 59% women were found to be anaemic in the country, with the eastern region having a significantly higher prevalence...

-Livemint.com A Mint analysis based on a wide range of district level indicators of assets and amenities shows how Maharashtra's wealth is very unevenly spread If India is a land of contradictions, Maharashtra is its befitting exemplar. It is at once the country's cradle of wealth and its most poignant symbol of agrarian distress, where many millionaires are born, and many farmers commit suicides each year. Maharashtra is the wealthiest of all...

-NDTV Yavatmal, Maharashtra: Another fresh spell of heavy unseasonal rains lashed large parts of Maharashtra on Sunday evening, again hitting the spirit of already-beleaguered farmers. Many districts in Vidarbha, Marathawada and western Maharashtra were hit by strong showers and hailstorms accompanied by gusty winds, damaging the standing rabi crop. Wheat, soya bean, jowar and fruits like watermelon and grapes were all set to be harvested. But the fresh showers have further damaged...

-The Indian Express There seems to be emerging a fair consensus across the political spectrum that it is not prudent to tamper with the ongoing process of land market reform that began a decade ago. The earlier "revenue laws" that governed the registration of titles came from a century-old colonial legislation. The imperial government of India kept almost complete control over land title and use - in order to dispense...