-The Indian Express Rajasthan/ Delhi: Three states where the UPA govt has rolled out direct cash transfers go to polls later this year. On the ground, the scheme has not quite turned out the game-changer the government reckoned it would. A frail Gori Sahaab, 90, instructs his son to pour mustard oil into a tiny diya in his one-room house. He once used a kerosene lamp but has stopped buying that fuel....

-The Times of India PUNE: The surplus rainfall recorded by the country so far this season has come down to 11% above normal, as on Friday, from the 17% above normal recorded by end-July. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has attributed the reduced rainfall activity to factors like a continuing absence of an offshore trough along the west coast and a weak monsoon current. "There has been rainfall in most parts of...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: At the halfway mark, the monsoon shows no signs of flagging and, on current projections, is set to cross 100% of its long period average, promising to relieve a stressed economy and ease the Manmohan Singh government's political burden. A bountiful monsoon is likely to benefit the kharif crop despite some hiccups in east India and the government is anticipating record rice production with the area...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: A day after more than 20 schoolchildren died after eating a contaminated mid-day meal in Bihar's Chapra district, Delhi had its own scare when 21 kids had to be rushed to hospitals across the city after they were given iron and folic acid tablets during a government drive against anaemia. The children, aged 9 to 17, had severe stomach ache, nausea and vomiting on Wednesday -...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: The weather office may have jumped the gun in declaring last week's torrential rainfall in northern India as monsoon showers. Private forecasters say the devastating downpour was a freak pre-monsoon phenomenon that has been followed by dry weather. The India Meteorological Department insists that monsoon rains arrived two weeks early, but private forecaster Skymet says the claim is debatable. It says northern India will get the next...