-PTI Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today alleged that the state was "deliberately left out" by the Centre when announcements were being made for relief packages for states facing drought-like situation. Referring to the relief announced by the Centre for some states like Gujarat, Maharashta and Haryana in view of drought like situation, Badal said "it is unfortunate that Punjab was deliberately left out of its ambit despite the fact that...

-The Economic Times With a weak monsoon, farmers and farm labour, agri-investors and policy makers, everyone is looking up in the sky and praying for more water to pour. Farm analysts are debating whether this will lead to a drop of 16 million tonnes of foodgrain, as it happened in 2009, or 38 million tonnes, as it did in 2002. NCAER is projecting 20 million tonnes drop in grain production in...

-The Hindu Death toll in Uttarakhand alone is 28 After weeks of deficient monsoon in the northwestern region, the three Himalayan States of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, as well as Uttar Pradesh, on Saturday faced cloudbursts, landslips and floods, causing at least 31 deaths. Authorities issued a flood alert as the level in the Chenab, Tawi, Ujh and Basantar rivers approached The Danger mark in Jammu. In Himachal Pradesh, the police...

-The Hindu Shankar’s cartoon on Ambedkar and the Constitution has been discussed threadbare by now. The Thorat committee report has added more layers to the controversy. I would like to contribute to the ongoing debate in a different way — through more cartoons. Like most other contemporary issues in India, especially those related to identity and caste politics, this one too has conveniently assumed a complex, fudged nature, giving rise to three...

-The Indian Express Discord between Team Anna and media brings a crucial and overdue reality check for both Unhappy with the cameras apparently turning away from their cause and reporting the dwindling numbers at their venue, several Team Anna members and supporters have now declared the media biased and complicit with power. Some in the crowd at Jantar Mantar even heckled journalists. The Broadcast Editors’ Association sought, and got, “an immediate apology...