-The Indian Express   Pune (Maharashtra): Agriculture dept says the ‘first-of-its-kind' portal will have real-time information on area under fruits, vegetables, flowers and spices. In a move aimed to help planners and agriculturists, the Commissionerate of Agriculture is putting final touches to a web portal that will track the production of fruits and vegetables in the state. Claimed to be first of its kind, the portal will have real-time information about the area...

-Economic and Political Weekly   Open defecation is a major health hazard and causes enormous hardship, especially to rural women. Government funds for constructing toilets have to be supplemented with awareness campaigns to motivate ordinary people to do their part. Sarola, a village in Maharashtra, was able to become "open defecation free" with effective community participation, taking advantage of the Sant Gadgebaba Gram Swachhata Abhiyan. Toilets were built in every house, along...

-The Hindu   The Supreme Court's judgment upholding the validity of Article 21A and the Right to Education Act has gutted the operative provisions of the law While free and compulsory education for all children below the age of 14 has been a constitutional imperative for the government for the last 64 years, it is a matter of fact (and shame) that successive governments have not achieved this yet. The most concerted effort...

-Economic and Political Weekly     Disabled citizens face a traumatic time procuring the crucial disability certificate. Among the tasks that fill most Indians with dread is the act of procuring the all-important identity and eligibility documents so dear to the Indian bureaucracy. Imagine the plight of disabled citizens for whom getting a disability certificate that officially recognises their disability and medically ranks it in percentage terms has long been a nightmarish experience. Yet,...

-Outlook     Yavatmal: Hundreds widows of farmers and hailstorm hit farmers staged a protest here today, to protest against the apathy of the Maharashtra state government and its bureaucrats towards their plight. The protestors demanded fresh crop loans, a higher minimum support price at the rate of Rs 6500 per quintal, disbursement of relief aid to all farmers, family pension as well as food security to all widows of farmers and families of...