-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Don't be surprised if Parliament manages to clear a slew of anti-graft bills, the Telangana Bill or the Communal Violence Prevention Bill despite the din in the next few days of the current session - 17% of bills, 20 to be precise, were passed by the 15th Lok Sabha with less than five minutes' discussion. According to an analysis by PRS Legislative Research, of the...

-The Hindu ‘Fair price shops will do business from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. for first the 10 days of the month' Koar (Karnataka): Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday announced that the ‘Padithara Khatri' scheme would be launched on Saturday to ensure proper supply of foodgrains to ration cardholders. Fair price shops should be kept open from the first to the 10th of every month from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and provide...

-The Times of India CHENNAI: If your child was born in the last couple of years, he or she is likely to live five years more than children born a decade ago. Statistics released by the Union ministry of health and family welfare show that life expectancy in India has gone up by five years, from 62.3 years for males and 63.9 years for females in 2001-2005 to 67.3 years and 69.6...

-Frontline The tussle within some Central government Ministries over proposed cuts in the budget for rural development schemes has affected a promise made to senior citizens. THEIR wizened faces said it all. Though there was disappointment, there was also a glimmer of hope that their trek to the national capital would not go in vain. For almost a month, senior citizens, most of them poor, had been pouring into New Delhi from...

-Grain.org "We take care of the cow and the cow takes care of us," says Marayal, a farmer in Thalavady, Tamil Nadu. Her two cows produce 6 to 10 litres of milk a day, which she sells for 30-40 cents per litre. Across India, there are millions of backyard dairy farmers like Marayal. Each owning just one or two cows, these farmers supply millions more families and hundreds of thousands of informal...