-The Telegraph   A farmer in his mid-thirties killed himself in a Burdwan village early this morning, a mountain of debt driving him under after he was apparently forced to sell paddy to middlemen at a lower price. Tapas Majhi’s suicide comes at a time three Bengal agencies tasked with procuring paddy directly from farmers and mill owners have been able to meet just 10 per cent of their target because of lack...

Agriculture sector undergoes a historic change as livestock surpasses the economy of food grain Policy makers in India are finally acknowledging a structural shift in the agriculture sector they have been noticing for a decade. Economic contribution of livestock is today more than that of food grain crops. Traditionally, of the three components of the sector—crops, livestock and fisheries—crops drove the growth, and food grains are a major part of it....

States turn to dubious technology for saving girl child With the country’s child sex ratio hitting an all-time low—944 girls for every 1,000 boys—states are turning to a monitoring device to fix the imbalance. Public health activists say the device, called Silent Observer, is more hogwash than an answer. Silent Observer can be fitted into sonography machines to allow the authorities to monitor and record pre-natal ultrasound scans taken by doctors. It...

Single-premium plan likely to be only for women initially; Centre, states to share premium for economically weaker sections. Customers may soon get health, insurance and pension covers, as well as a scholarship for their daughter’s school education under one policy. The single-premium policy, which the finance ministry is considering, is likely to be available only for women in the first phase. The premium will be shared by the Centre and the state...

-The Hoot The brutally fatal silencing of three journalists along with the sharp rise in censorship of content in online media and the increasing cases of defamation marked the deterioration of the climate for free speech across India in 2011. Attacks on journalists continued to be high, with 24 recorded instances even as writers, journalists and lawyers bore the brunt of the intolerance of vigilante groups to dissenting opinion. The Free Speech...