-DNA Talking about her late son Sampatrao, Gayabai's voice breaks. "He was cleaning a well to increase its depth and width. Suddenly, the manual lift that was carrying the boulders and mud from the well fell on his head. He succumbed to his injury even before reaching the hospital," she says. Gayabai Murkute (75) lost her son Sampatrao (45) in an accident three years ago. Same year the rain stopped falling. Her...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal has asked the central government to increase wages under the national rural job scheme to at least Rs 300 a day to attract workers, a view apparently shared by many states as well as activists. An official in the rural development ministry said many state governments had already written to the Centre citing difficulties in implementing the MGNREGA because of the low...

-The Indian Express Villagers in Chikalthana say not more than one in every 20 wells in the vicinity has any water left. Not a single farmer in the village will earn anything from the field this kharif season. Parbhani/ Beed (Maharashtra): This summer, Meera Jadhav, 18, secured a first division in her Class XII board exams. Weeks later, her younger sister Suvarna, 16, got her Class X final results — over...

-PTI MUMBAI: Maharashtra government is mulling amending the Maharashtra Employment Guarantee Act to bring under its ambit farm-hands and Labourers involved in the agricultural sector. State finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said the idea is to bring individuals other than farmers, like those who do the work of levelling farm lands and building farm roads under the ambit of the Employment Guarantee Scheme Act so that they get employment under it. Please click here...

-Hindustan Times Ranchi: Bankers come in pint size at an urban slum in Ranchi. And they run a bank for the children, by the children and of the children. Ten-year-old Nisha Kumari has an account in the bank — Children’s Development Khazana (CDK)—which opened in 2014. And her small pleasures of childhood is not held hostage to the priorities of her poor family. “During Durga Puja last year, a few relatives had visited...