-The Times of India Some good news for consumers might be at hand. You would soon be able to find the most affordable alternative to the medicine prescribed by your doctor through an SMS-based service. The service, expected to be launched by the government in August, will be available throughout the country. Here is how it works: Once the person sends a text message of the prescribed brand of drug to a...

-The Telegraph The poor rainfall performance is likely to impact India’s rice yield this year, a senior agrometeorology scientist said today amid growing concerns over the rainfall deficit persisting 45 days into the monsoon season. Rainfall activity over the past week has reduced India’s land area under rain stress from 82 per cent on July 7 to 59 per cent today, but the cumulative rainfall is still 21 per cent below normal,...

Hearing of the petition in Supreme Court today against Patna High Court verdict acquitting all the accused A day before the hearing of the petition in the Supreme Court against the Patna High Court verdict acquitting all the accused in the Bathani Tola massacre of 1996, civil society activists on Sunday demanded justice for the victims of the massacre at a “Convention on Justice for the Bathani Tola Massacre 1996: Punish...

-The Telegraph Beggars can’t be choosers — not even when it comes to quitting. The Centre plans to photograph and collect the fingerprints of the country’s estimated 7.3 lakh beggars for a proposed national database to launch a scheme aimed at ending the practice and offering sources of livelihood. The Union ministry of social justice is overseeing the project and has asked states to furnish details on beggars for the database. “A rehabilitation package...

-The Hindu Asara leaders say the media has not reported all decisions such as ban on dowry & compulsory schooling The leaders of the Samaj Sudhar Sabha in Asara village here, who recently ordered women to stop using mobile phones, have claimed that they had never imposed any “blanket ban” and only restrained them from using mobile phones while stepping out of their homes. However, the Sabha members did not backtrack on...