-PTI New Delhi: Two of every three families in villages used firewood for cooking during July, 2011 to June, 2012 period whereas in cities, only 14 per cent families were dependent on it, says a government report. "At all India level, firewood and chips were used by more than two-third (67.35) of rural households, followed by LPG, which was used by 15 per cent households," said a National Sample Survey Organisation study...

-Business Standard A report published by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) on Thursday revealed a sharp 24 percentage points drop in the number of rural households using kerosene for lighting, and an equal increase in electrified households since 1999-2000, the date of the last such relevant survey. Titled 'Energy Sources of Indian Households for Cooking and Lighting', the report traces the usage patterns of primary sources of energy in cooking and...

-Hindustan Times The picture of rural Indian life today that emerges from what is probably the world's largest study ever of household deprivation is sobering and sombre. It describes a massive hinterland still imprisoned in persisting endemic impoverishment, want, illiteracy and indeed hopelessness. It tells a story that every thinking and caring Indian must heed. Advocates of free markets, opposed to building a welfare state, have long argued that accelerated market-led economic...

-Business Standard Skymet says rains will be normal in August Southwest monsoon has shown marked improvement over central and eastern parts of India in the past few days, narrowing the cumulative deficiency for July to 15 per cent from a high of 50 per cent. However, the situation is worrisome in parts of central maharashtra, Marathwada, Rayalseema region of Andhra Pradesh, some districts of Telangana, and north interior Karnataka, where the total seasonal...

-The Hindu Too much of public discourse on farmer suicides could bring on unseemly haggling over the numbers. Activists and the media rightly question loopholes in the National Crime Records Bureau data, pointing out that several State governments often report no farm suicides, contrary to local media reportage. However, there is also much needless suspicion and conspiracy-theorising; the NCRB’s data are from police station-level First Information Reports, and FIRs are often...