-The Financial Express To deal with the possibility of a deficit monsoon, the agriculture ministry has suggested sowing of short- duration varieties of paddy, pulses, oilseeds and other less water-intensive crops in the northern India regions for curbing possible crop losses. In its first advisory for the northern Indian region, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), a premier institute under the ministry of agriculture, has suggested transplanting of short duration paddy varieties of...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Terms like inclusive growth and roof-for-all may have gained political currency in the recent years, but trends show how public sector banks and Housing Finance Corporation (HFC) are reluctant to provide housing loans to the poor and lower middle class. The data that was presented before MPs at the consultative committee of urban development and housing alleviation on Wednesday highlighted how the outstanding housing loans up...

-The Financial Express The NITI Aayog must firm up a concrete plan involving the states to deal with monsoon deficiency to avoid all-round confusion. This is an old and oft-repeated story in the media, but worth mentioning here for the readers who have missed it. It goes like this. During the period of erstwhile Planning Commission, one of the officials in-charge of projecting agricultural growth found out an innovative way to do...

-The Economic Times The photo accompanying this article was taken in 2013 by Sumitra, an anganwadi worker in Bangalore. It was what the children lovingly called "egg day", one of the three times a week they are served boiled eggs. "Attendance soars on egg days," says Sumitra. When the picture was taken, anganwadis in Karnataka had just started providing eggs following the tragic news of a six-year-old girl in Bangalore who died...

-The Indian Express Satwarwa (Palamau): Nearly two days after 12 alleged Maoists were killed by the CRPF and Jharkhand Police in a joint operation, only seven had been identified. Of them, six had no case against them. The only one with known Maoist connections was Anurag alias RK ‘ji’ alias doctor, said to be a top zonal commander, and wanted in the 2013 Latehar case where explosives were put inside a slain...