-The Hindustan Times Chandigarh: Pesticide residues are present in blood and urine of every fourth person of Punjab's cotton belt, a Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) study has found. The study has established that around 23% of the people living in rural areas of the state's cotton belt have residues of pesticide in their blood. The study titled 'Reducing pesticide toxicity in the exposed population of Punjab' and funded by...

-The Hindustan Times New Delhi: With general elections due next year, the UPA has drawn up plans to project itself as a business-friendly regime, as investors are side-stepping India following criticism that the government has been unable to push through enough reforms to revive a stalling economy. A white paper on economic reforms, under preparation, lists out moves such as allowing FDI in multi-brand retail. Last week, global ratings agency Standard & Poor's...

-The Hindustan Times New Delhi: The UPA government is set to toughen a key law that protects India's Dalits against discrimination by introducing several new provisions which will criminalise acts, such as denying them access to temples and forcing them to quit elections. The Social Justice and Empowerment ministry is likely to move the cabinet shortly to get the proposed amendments to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,...

-The Hindustan Times The UPA government will be giving a final push for minority appeasement before the 2014 general elections with the Cabinet on Thursday approving a proposal to spend additional Rs. 100 crore for scholarships to minority children. This would be complimented with a new campaign to reach out to the minority community and tell them about the difference the UPA government policies have made in their lives. Minority, especially Muslims,...

-The Hindustan Times I remember her face but not her name. She was one of the 30 people I met one winter afternoon in 2009 at Basaguda village in Chhattisgarh's Maoist-hit Bijapur district. A thin, tall woman, she stood at the edge of the group, listening attentively to her neighbour who was narrating an incident of an armed attack on the village that had left them homeless for months. When my...