-The Hindu     Paddy cultivation is no longer lucrative in Kanyakumari district Kanyakumari: The fertile rice bowl of erstwhile Travancore, now part of Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari district, is gripped by a serious economic and ecological crisis. The emerald green paddy fields, banana and coconut groves in the backdrop of the Western Ghats, and irrigated by hundreds of water bodies may soon fade into a neglected prized painting, if urgent measures are not taken, warn...

-The Times of India BANGALORE: India has one of the worst records in the trickle-down of wealth. As of last year, for every one billionaire in India, there were just 26 ultra high net-worth individuals (UHNIs)-those whose net assets are over $30 million excluding their primary residence. In Japan, for every billionaire there were 609 UHNIs. In Brazil and South Africa, which are comparable emerging markets, the ratio was 1:129 and 1:119...

-The Hindu Chennai: The launch of bio-metric scanner to obtain fingerprint impressions of people involved in land transactions and installation of cameras in sub-registrar offices has already speeded up the registration process. Officials of the Registration Department expect the initiatives to usher in transparency and eliminate fake land deals. The new initiatives were launched last November across the State as part of steps to boost e-governance. Unlike earlier when people had to...

-The Hindu     Even a cursory look at how Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand have fared will tell us how the mere formation of a smaller State is no guarantee for better lives for those groups for whom these States have been created Smaller States have been the new political mode of addressing basic issues that were otherwise left unresolved. However, fighting for a new state and reconstructing on a more sustainable democratic content...

-The Hindustan Times India has driven the truck of development - loaded with tar, bricks, glass, concrete...the works - right through its most treasured and fragile green spaces in the last decade. While major cities like Delhi and Mumbai sacrificed green cover for Real estate, the country's finest wildlife corridors have been ceded to indiscriminate industrialisation. In the absence of a clear policy to balance development and environment, the Aravallis in Gurgaon,...