-The Hindustan Times A social activist and Congress worker was shot dead allegedly by an inspector when he was trying to draw the policeman’s attention to rampant corruption in the public distribution system (PDS). Ambika Prasad Dubey, 40, was shot in the chest and stomach at point-blank range after Dubey and some locals stopped a vehicle carrying PDS grain in Jhilpani village, 60 km from district headquarter Narsingpur, late Saturday. Villagers said...

In Maharashtra’s drought-hit Satara district, a cattle camp has come to the rescue of women and their cattle, writes Sameena Dalwai. Mann taluka in Satara district is ground zero for the drought now ravaging interior Maharashtra. The only cattle camp in the vicinity, being run by the Mann Deshi Mahila Bank and Foundation, provides a snap distress. This region, known as ‘Manndesh’ in Marathi folklore, falls in the rain shadow area...

-The Hindu Business Line   Reservations for SC/STs may not impact redistribution as much as they can alter social prejudices and hierarchies. June 5, 2012: This year, India celebrates the 20th anniversary of the 73rd amendment. One of the most striking aspects of the modern Panchayati Raj defined by the amendment is the systematic reservation of political positions (pradhans, sarpanchs, and ward members) for villagers from the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes (SC/ST)....

PUNE/ KOLKATA: Heavy rains lashed Mumbai and parched fields in peninsular India as the monsoon resumed its journey after an agonising 11-day interruption, but the unforeseen 41% rain deficit this month has taken its toll, with vegetable prices rising sharply for the third straight month.  The monsoon, almost stagnant since June 6, touched southern parts of Gujarat and Chhattisgarh on Sunday. It is forecast to gain momentum in the next three...

Elders devise a system to share water among arecanut farmers Disputes over sharing of water from Bukkarayanakere were common among arecanut growers in Doddabukkasagar of Kadur taluk until around 40 years ago. A few senior citizens came together in the early 1970s and decided to resolve them forever by devising a new system, according to which water is released periodically to all farmers. Now, disputes over water are unheard of in the...