-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Out of every 100 death sentences that trial courts pronounce, less than five are upheld by higher courts. About 30% of the remaining prisoners are acquitted, and the sentence is commuted for the rest. What happens to all the people trapped in the maws of criminal justice system, condemned to death? No ministry or agency has a record of how many people India has executed since...

-The Times of India BADI (MADHYA PRADESH): With a vacant expression on his face and bloodshot eyes, Rajendra Sisodiya, the newly appointed sarpanch of Badi village in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh, sits in front of his house in a blazing May afternoon, wondering how he will discharge his new responsibilities. Sisodiya was made sarpanch two months ago after his cousin Jeevan, the elected village head, committed suicide by hanging himself from...

-Livemint.com Pulses use less water per unit crop and also address hidden hunger The severe drought across India should hopefully help focus attention on the overuse of water in agriculture. A data analysis by Roshan Kishore in this newspaper last week showed that the average water footprint for five major crops—rice, wheat, maize, sugarcane and cotton—is far higher than global averages. At the root of the problem is a policy framework that...

-The Hindu Consumers in Tier-I and II cities will have to submit affidavits to their LPG distributors stating that their annual income is below Rs.10 lakh to continue to receive cooking gas subsidy, according to Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.“In the Tier-I and Tier-II cities, when somebody comes to refill gas, they are asked to sign an affidavit regarding their income,” the Minister said. “It is a matter of trust. We have to...

-Business Today The elixir of life has been the subject of a dispute of life-THReatening proportions between industry and communities. When a life sustaining resource is in short supply, conflicting claims over it are bound to arise. Water conflicts span the gamut of fights, from neighbours in water starved colonies to those between states over river waters. But perhaps the most vital current conflict over water is that between agriculture and industry.   "Around...