-The Hindu PUDUCHERRY: The child sex ratio (for ages 0 to 6) in the Union Territory has fallen from 967 girls for every 1,000 boys in 2001, to 965 girls for every 1,000 boys in 2011. In order to improve this ratio, the health officials from the Union Territory will be meeting health and family welfare officials from the neighbouring States of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. According to a study conducted...

-The Hindu State’s women’s policy draft includes amendments in treatment of transgenders Pune: Women and children in Maharashtra will now have the freedom to use any surname of their choice, the government has said in the draft of the State’s women’s policy released here on Friday. In another first, the draft also includes policy changes for the treatment of transgenders. The government has sought suggestions and recommendations from the citizens for the next two...

-Outlook Patna: Poor households in Bihar will be provided poultry and goats free-of-cost so that they get their supplement of nutrition in the form of eggs and milk, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said today. "Every poor family will get three goats each through self -help groups (SHGs) as part of a development plan," Kumar said at a function here. "Besides, 5.50 lakh households each will get 45 hens in three instalments through SHGs,"...

-IANS On the defensive after its personnel were caught on camera thrashing a young woman in public in Tarn Taran district, Punjab Police Tuesday said that it was "examining all evidence" of the incident. Punjab Police Director General of Police (DGP) Sumedh Singh Saini told media here: "Whatever the facts may be, whatever the provocation, it was wrong to raise a hand or lathi (cane baton) on a lady." Saini said two police...

-The Economic Times The government plans to revive cultivation of crops that make Punjab's iconic "makki ki roti and sarson ka saag" -- maize and mustard -- along with horticulture and fodder to breathe life into the stressed soil and the rapidly depleting water table in the green-revolution state. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is pushing hard for crop diversification in Punjab and has appointed an inter-ministerial panel on crop diversification led by Agriculture...