Boommi Gowda used to fear the night. Her vision fogged by glaucoma, she could not see by just the dim glow of a kerosene lamp, so she avoided going outside where king cobras slithered freely and tigers carried off neighborhood dogs. But things have changed at Gowda's home in the remote southern village of Nada. A solar-powered lamp PoUrs white light across the front of the mud-walled hut she shares with...

So it's not going to be a normal monsoon . That's hardly surprising. Indian rainfall is erratic in four out of 10 years. About 80% of our land mass is highly vulnerable to drought, floods and cyclones. 50 million Indians are exposed to drought every year. The agriculture ministry says 68% of India's sown area is subject to drought in varying degrees. Annual average rainfall is 1,160 mm. However, 85% of...

Names 7 from mob that burnt to death his father, step-sister Mirchpur victim Tara Chand's son Amar Lal who was called to depose as a court witness by the Sessions court here hearing the Mirchpur caste violence case on Thursday named seven members of the Jat community who he said were part of a mob of 300-400 people from Mirchpur village in neighbouring Haryana that burnt to death his father and...

-PTI   It is force versus children in the battle for land to set up South Korean giant POSCO's proposed mega steel project in Orissa's Jagatsinghpur district where the anti-displacement stir has entered the decisive phase. While a determined state government has accused the POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), a body spearheading agitation, of using the children as a "shield", the villagers sought to differ. "We involve children in the agitation to counter...

-BBC   Workers at India's top car maker Maruti Suzuki have called off a 13-day strike which had seriously affected production. The company has agreed to reinstate 11 sacked employees, and the workers have agreed not to form a new union. Nearly 2,000 workers had gone on strike demanding recognition of a new workers union. Maruti Suzuki, a joint venture partner of Japan's Suzuki Motor Corporation, has 50% of India's booming car market. The strike...