-The Times of India CHENNAI: Chief minister J Jayalalithaa on Friday declared that all districts of Tamil Nadu, except Chennai, were drought-hit. After a disastrous monsoon and with Karnataka proving intractable on release of Cauvery water, experts said the CM's statement appeared calculated to buttress the state's case in court for immediate relief. But Jayalalithaa injected the declaration with a sense of urgency, saying finance minister O Paneerselvam would lead a high-level team...

-Live Mint Proposal aimed at beefing up security, besides making sure development reaches neglected parts of India A day after the government pledged the partial decontrol of sugar in the next fortnight, the Union cabinet on Thursday approved a set of significant measures aimed at tackling Maoist insurgency and asserting its strategic hold over an area claimed by neighbouring China.   The measures approved involve upgrading rural road connectivity with special emphASIs on...

-The Indian Express Until recently, we took a compartmentalised view of national security. Each threat to national security was neatly fitted into one compartment. The first, of course, was a war with Pakistan. That was fitted into a compartment and was meant to be deterred, or defended, through the might of our armed forces. A war with China was, and remains, unthinkable, and therefore that threat was fitted into another compartment...

-Outlook Most of the child victims of sexual assault in India face humiliation while undergoing medical tests apart from police who often do not believe their account, according to a Human Rights Watch report. The 82-page report, 'Breaking the Silence: Child Sexual Abuse in India', released today found government's responses were falling short in protecting children from sexual abuse and treating the victims. It asked the government to improve protection for children from...

The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) has been the target of criticism from industry groups to the Prime Minister for allegedly holding up infrastructure and industrial development through its system of green clearances. But a recent analysis of 5 years of decision-making put out by an environmental group suggests why these attacks might be misplaced, given the ease with which every single of 262 proposed hydropower and irrigation projects...