-The Times of India PUNE: In view of the increasing need for skilled manpower in the mental heath sector, the state health department has decided to train health workers at the village level and incorporate them in the mental health services. "At present, about 6,000 people with different mental illnesses can take treatment at four regional mental hospitals in the state. Even if the strength of health workers is increased, it would...

-The Hindu ‘If the protector of women’s rights becomes a mute spectator where can I go?’ Mumbai: She faced sexual harassment at a reputed multinational company and was terminated from services after she sought an enquiry as per Vishakha guidelines (norms laid down by the Supreme Court for the employers to deal with such cases at workplace). A heart patient who has undergone open heart surgery, she has been fighting a long-drawn, bitter...

-The Hindu The influx of 2.5 lakh Muslims after the 2008 constituency delimitationled to insecurity among Hindus in Dhule, claims social activist Almost two months since six people were killed after communal violence in the north Maharashtra district of Dhule, the aggressive-yet-vulnerable countenance of the town has resurfaced. Citizens, both Hindu and Muslim, reveal that behind the volatility is the small town’s neglected struggle for an identity. A small fight at a local...

-The Indian Express Gandhinagar: The Gujarat government on Tuesday tabled an irrigation Bill in the Assembly which seeks to make it compulsory for farmers to get a licence to draw water from canal or ground well beyond a certain limit and prescribes penal action, including imprisonment, against the errant farmers. The Bill also seeks to charge farmers for irrigation water reaching any cultivated land within 200 metres of a canal either by...

-The Business Standard State budgets are raining sops to pull farmers' votes With elections staring at them, several state governments are suddenly waking up to the demands of farmers and offering sops to the agriculture sector in their budgets, even as farmer organisations say the state and Central governments should do more.    Karnataka, which pioneered the trend of having a separate agriculture budget--similar to the railway budget at the Centre — brought...