-The Hindustan Times If there is one defining collage of the ongoing monsoon mayhem in Uttarakhand, it's this: multi-storied concrete houses collapsing like a pack of cards into an angry, wild river and cars and lorries being tossed around in the swirling muddy waters, as if they were plastic toys. As I watched the unfolding drama on TV, I remembered what a green campaigner told me some years ago in Uttarkashi:...

-The Times of India We have a PM-led National Disaster Management Board. But the latest CAG report says none of its plans seem to have worked since its inception. The question is not what the CAG report says and who leads the board's policies. To me, at least boards like these should have the experience of the community. Such boards are led by experts who have never experienced any disasters. That...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: An expected 2°C rise in the world's average temperatures in the next decades will make India's monsoon highly unpredictable and by 2040, the country will witness a sharp reduction in crop yields due to extreme heat, a report commissioned by the World Bank cautioned on Wednesday. It said shifting rain patterns will leave some areas under water and others without enough water for power generation, irrigation or,...

-The New York Times CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - MODERN India is, in many ways, a success. Its claim to be the world's largest democracy is not hollow. Its media is vibrant and free; Indians buy more newspapers every day than any other nation. Since independence in 1947, life expectancy at birth has more than doubled, to 66 years from 32, and per-capita income (adjusted for inflation) has grown fivefold. In recent decades,...

-The Times of India KAMDUNI (BARASAT): "Shut up", West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had shouted at Kamduni women on Monday. Her party toughs ensured they did. When TOI visited the village on Tuesday, the roar of a hundred women the previous day had been replaced by a deadening stillness. Branded "CPM supporters" and browbeaten by the CM, the women shut up and shut themselves indoors. On Monday, they had rushed to...