-BBC   It's early morning and local commuters are queuing up for tickets at the Kirti Nagar railway station in the Indian capital, Delhi. Along the tracks, another crowd is gathering - each person on his own, separated by a modest distance. They are among the 48% of Indians who do not have access to proper sanitation. Coming from a slum close-by, they squat among the few trees and bushes along the railway tracks...

-Live Mint   Voters who gave the Congress its worst drubbing did not reject its welfare agenda, but its performance There are many who interpret the emphatic rejection of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the significant endorsement of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the elections of 2014 as a mandate to end the architecture of rights-based legislation for social and economic welfare constructed during the 10-year UPA regime. Commentators opposed...

-The Times of India   LUCKNOW: With the spectre of a drought-like condition looming large in the state, the contingency plan of the government, too, is severely deficient on two basic component: power and seeds. There is no special plan to provide power to farmers who are already desperate due to delayed rains, to help them irrigate their farms for paddy saplings. Besides, seeds are hardly available in government storages. In drought-like situation,...

-PTI   Delhi government will track the trucks carrying foodgrains with the help of Global Positioning System (GPS) and Radio-frequency identification (RFID) devices to curb the menace of diversion of rations meant for lakhs of families which are below the poverty line. Also, SMS will be sent to the ration card holders attached to that fair price shop (FPS) about the arrival of ration commodities. The system is likely to be functional in...

-FAO   FAO publication highlights success stories in "climate-smart agriculture," stresses need to transition to new approach to food production Rome - Shifting world agriculture to a "climate-smart" approach will not only help prevent future food security crises but holds the promise of sparking economic and agricultural renewal in rural areas where hunger and poverty are most prevalent, argues a new FAO publication. On the one hand, the magnitude and scope of climate change's...