-The Telegraph New Delhi: Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh today asked every state to "follow" the Bihar model of linking housing benefits to toilets as a possible solution to the chronic problem of poor sanitation in Indian villages. The Union minister's praise, weeks after he had accused Narendra Modi of being a copycat toilet crusader, appeared to be aimed at giving a leg-up to chief minister Nitish Kumar, a potential ally for...

-The Hindu In addition to ailments caused by poverty, salt pan workers across the country suffer from several occupational diseases, including chronic dermatitis, loss of vision and hypothyroidism In Adivasi Colony, a remote hamlet off the road from Vedaranyam to Kodikarai in Tamil Nadu, most of the adults in the 200-odd households work in salt manufacturing. They prepare salt pans manually, irrigate them with saline water which is three times saltier than...

-The Hindu A warmer world may be leading to a delayed withdrawal of the Indian monsoon, hitting crop yield and affecting the livelihoods of small farmers and agricultural workers The joys of a bountiful southwest monsoon are increasingly changing to anxiety as the rains unseasonally drag on in many parts of India. "The normal rains should be from June 1 to mid-September. In fact it usually reduces by August 15, and is...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Agricultural GDP is likely to grow by over 5% this year thanks to the most abundant rains in nearly two decades, a government thinktank has forecast. If the prediction turns out right, it could help tame food inflation, provide a much-needed boost to rural incomes and a knock-on effect on other sectors of the economy. The demand for two-wheelers, tractors and mobiles, in particular, could rise...

-The Hindu ‘1.87 crore people were deprived of the benefits of ICDS' Gandhinagar: Though Chief Minister Narendra Modi has been waxing eloquent about the Gujarat Model of development, the latest report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India as well as the State government's own admission speak of malnourished and underweight children in the State. According to the government's own figures, produced by Women and Child Development Minister Vasuben Trivedi in...