-The Times of India CHANDIGARH: Scripting history by bringing about changes in the norms pertaining to marriages, haryana's biggest khap panchayat called by Satrol khap in Hisar on Sunday gave a go-ahead to inter-caste marriages that have in the past triggered bloody killings in the state and surrounding regions. The khaps, in the name of tradition, have been opposed to inter-caste marriages, inter-village marriages (that is, within a radius of 42 villages)...

-Deccan Herald   Barely emerging out of the shadows of freak weather, the warning of a weak monsoon will push millions of farmers into dire straits. In the midst of all the noise and muck-slinging that dominates the election campaigns there is bad news on the horizon. No, I am not talking of the possibility of a hung Parliament where the numbers don't add up for any political front, but the possibility of...

-Outlook     Women have outnumbered men in casting votes in five of the 13 states and Union Territories which went to polls in first four phases of Lok Sabha elections and an increase in the aggregate voter turnout was also witnessed as compared to the last general elections. According to data complied by the Election Commission, women voters outnumbered men in Chandigarh, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Sikkim and Lakshadweep. The poll panel considered data of...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: El Nino is likely to hit rains in India but the country may escape an overall drought, private weather company Skymet said in the first forecast by any agency about this year's monsoon. Rainfall in the season is likely to be below normal at 94% of the long range average, it said. Releasing its assessment some 10 days before the official India Meteorological Department's monsoon prediction,...

-The Business Standard Impact on farm output to depend on distribution of rains The southwest monsoon is likely to be below normal in 2014 because of the evolving El Niño, a warming of the Pacific Ocean that upsets weather patterns across the globe, according to a forecast issued on Tuesday by a leading private meteorological agency, Skymet. The official monsoon forecast by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) is due on April 25. Rain during...