-The Hindu Tamnar, Raigarh: Standing on the edge of a monstrous, black gorge 72 year old Kaniram, a Birhor tribal, stretched his left hand to point at the mud thatched house that he had in the hill slope. However, one could only see waves of unending charcoal coloured hills in the backdrop. The area - definitely not less than few hundred square kilometers - looks grey but Kaniram found the whole...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The government touted petrol as rich man's fuel to stop subsidy. But a latest survey shows 62% of the fuel flowing into the market is consumed by the aam aadmi's sawari - two-wheelers - while about 2% is being sold loose by people to earn their livelihood in remote villages and coastal areas. The survey, conducted by Nielsen for the oil ministry's think-tank - Petroleum...

-Down to Earth Money pumped in development schemes in Bihar is giving rise to a new breed of village heads, flush with money and flexing muscles About a year ago killings and a spurt in the purchase of arms and luxury vehicles in extremely backward villages started to bother the Bihar police. It spied and found that mukhiyas, or village heads, had multiplied their assets beyond imagination. It took the police six...

-The Hindu ‘We had to walk 40 to 50 km., in flood, to collect foodgrains' Raipur: While the Chhattisgarh government is touting its food policy as the most successful model of production and distribution of food grains in the country, the people of Abujhmarh - a vast swath of forestland in south-west Chhattisgarh - spent another monsoon without adequate food. Several villagers told The Hindu that the fair price shops, run by Gram...

-The Hindu Raipur: Water contamination in flood-affected panchayats of Abujhmarh in Narainpur district of south Chhattisgarh may result in a huge death toll, it is feared. The secretary of one of the affected panchayats, Kamluram Netam, has told journalists of Narainpur that several panchayats of the area are "severely affected and the death toll will go up." So far, more than 20 persons have died due to water-borne diseases, the locals said....