Eighty-five-year old Zahur Shah from the 250-year-old Badarpur Khadar village said he was searching for the cancer camp some time back when a passer-by told him he was standing in front of it. “Agar mujhe padna aata toh mere itne ghante usko dhoondne mein nahi lagte. Padai likhai ke bina insaan janwar jaisa hai,” says the father of nine children, and this family of three generations has never been to school. This...

At least 14 people died in the last 24 hours in the 12 flood-hit districts of western UP, taking the toll in rain-related incidents in the state to 270. Nearly 5 lakh people across 1,032 villages have been affected, 47 villages have been marooned. On Wednesday, the Army was called out in Shahjahanpur district. Relief Commissioner KK Sinha said: "Ramganga and Garrah are in spate in Shahjahanpur and the Army has been...

A vast swath of land in north India battled swirling flood water as the toll in heavy rains in the region rose to 93 with reports of more deaths from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Uttar Pradesh accounted for nine more deaths, while 67 persons lost their lives in the incessant rains during the past few days. Thousands others have been rendered homeless in the hill state. In Uttar Pradesh, three persons died...

Food inflation will defy government policies to remain in high single-digit levels in the long run, unless there is a change in an overwhelming bias among farmers towards staples such as wheat and rice, say economists and policymakers. A steady growth in population and rapidly rising income levels are adding to inflationary pressure at a time when agricultural productivity is showing a decline. A major reason is that the agriculture...

The flood situation worsened further in the western districts of Uttar Pradesh with the death of four more persons in rain related incidents even as around 177 villages of Bareilly, Badaun, Pilibhit and Shahajanpur were inundated. Meanwhile, Congress President Sonia Gandhi has arrived here to undertake an aerial survey of the flood-affected areas, officials said. "The Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who this morning undertook a tour of flood and cloudburst hit...