-The Hindu With sowing of kharif crops lagging by over 86 lakh hectares compared to last year, owing to an erratic southwest monsoon and the average water level in major reservoirs declining by 2 per cent (to 59 per cent of last year’s storage) over the previous week, the country faces a grim situation. The area under rice, pulses, oilseeds and coarse cereals is less than what it was last year. Earlier, the...

-The Hindu As the debate raged on the discrimination against children admitted under the Right to Education (RTE) Act in Oxford English School on Nandini Layout, the school management, which kept mum thus far, has finally come out with a clarification. Ajit Prabhu, correspondent of the school — where locks of hair of the children admitted under the RTE Act were cut to distinguish them from others — spoke to The Hindu...

-The Hindu Students turn up for classes but find errant school closed The Oxford English School on Nandini Layout, where the tuft of hair of some children admitted under the Right to Education quota for the disadvantaged children were snipped to distinguish them from the rest, remained closed on Thursday, even as protests were staged in front of it. In the morning, children who came to the school were turned away by the...

-The Hindu Four children have been forced to attend their school here in humiliation after the private institution allegedly cut off tufts of hair on top of their heads. This was done to reportedly distinguish these children, admitted under the Right to Education (RTE) quota, from other students. This shocking fact was disclosed here on Tuesday. According to the parents of these children, all in standard I in the school at Nandini...

-The Telegraph The poor rainfall performance is likely to impact India’s rice yield this year, a senior agrometeorology scientist said today amid growing concerns over the rainfall deficit persisting 45 days into the monsoon season. Rainfall activity over the past week has reduced India’s land area under rain stress from 82 per cent on July 7 to 59 per cent today, but the cumulative rainfall is still 21 per cent below normal,...