-The Hindu   Although meant to function as watchdogs, human rights institutions in India are treated as subordinate departments with scant regard for their autonomy or statutory character A change in the occupancy of 7, Race Course Road, is spelling change in the composition of statutory bodies in India. With the Governors of various States, the office-bearers of the National Disaster Management Authority and the Chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of...

-The Business Standard   The meeting has been called to discuss the preparedness of the states to handle less rainfall or drought like situations  Mumbai: The Ministry of Agriculture has called an urgent meeting of 18 states in the wake of delayed rains next week and prepare state specific contingency plan for crops. According to official sources, the meeting has been called to discuss the preparedness of the states to handle less rainfall or drought...

-ANI New Delhi/ Cuttack: Farmers in India's eastern region, prone for flash floods, are now shifting to flood-tolerant variety of rice, developed by Manila-based International Rice Research Institute, IRRI. The variety - Swarna-SUB1, is bread from a popular Indian variety of rice Swarna by upgrading it with SUB1, the gene for flood tolerance. Swarna was developed by Andhra Pradesh Agriculture University. The new variety, according to a report in the Indian Science Journal...

-The Times of India   SHILLONG: In a landmark judgement, the Meghalaya high court has said Bangladeshi nationals who had settled in the state before March 24, 1971, should be treated as Indians and enrolled in the voters' list. The order came on a petition filed by more than 40 Bangladeshi refugees who were denied enrolment in the electoral roll on the grounds that their citizenship was "doubtful". The refugees from Amjong...

-The Hindu   This election has created new trends and narratives even as it has sharpened old ones, says Rukmini S. through an analysis of electoral data High voter turnouts are frequently believed to be indicative of anti-incumbency. Following the record-breaking 66.7 per cent voter turnout this time, political parties and some in the media declared that this meant that the country had voted for change. Yet The Hindu's analysis shows that there...