-The Hindu To say human being is untouchable is to deny God: Asra Garg The Madras High Court Bench here on Thursday appreciated Madurai Superintendent of Police Asra Garg (31) for efforts taken by him in putting an end to long pending hostility between Caste Hindus and Dalits of Villoor near here through talks. Justice D. Hariparanthaman recorded his appreciation for the SP and his team of policemen while closing a writ petition...

-Reuters   PERLE: As a shiny red harvester bounces across the black earth into the first row of sugar cane, excited schoolchildren run after it and several dozen men stand gaping in the wake of its swift progress. It's the first time that Perle, a village on the banks of the Krishna river in Maharashtra state, has seen a machine used for cutting the tough cane. "This machine will harvest my entire field today,"...

Human-animal conflict, difficult terrain come in their way Until about two-and-a-half years ago, 10-year-old K. Nagaraj would go to Kovai Courtrallam every day, where he hawked fruits and snacks to tourists. On one such day, officials of the National Child Labour Project found the lad selling titbits and whisked him away to the special centre for rehabilitating child workers at Karunya Nagar, about 30-km west of Coimbatore. Nagaraj who was admitted to class...

The government says area under forests has been increasing for the last 13 years. ET finds this is the outcome of statistical jugglery and the use of flawed definitions by India's forest bureaucracy. The bald truth is India's forests are in serious decline, both in numbers and in health. In February, the latest instalment of a little environmental kabuki played out when the Forest Survey of India released its biennial report...

-The Financial Express BSP supremo Mayawati may have lost the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh but the defeated chief minister's wealth as declared has jumped to Rs 111 crore, a 25 per cent increase in the last two years. And 56-year-old Mayawati's assets made public today has doubled in the five years since she became chief minister in 2007 on the back of a thumping BSP victory. During public meetings, she often...