Punjab’s agricultural sector grew at 1.6 per cent during the 11th Plan against the national average of 3.41 per cent. The growth is tardy owing to near saturation in productivity. The rural debts in Punjab are estimated to be Rs 35,000 crore. The number of indebted rural households in Punjab is 66 per cent, third highest in the country after Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The Government of India’s debt...

A school principal in Melur in Madurai district, Tamil Nadu, is reported to have denied admission to two girls whose parents had married them off after they completed Class X ( The Hindu , June 23). Prima facie , it seems the principal is wrongly applying her authority. Also, in the broader social context, it seems strange and unacceptable that the benefits of education should be denied to a girl...

-The Hindu An R.K. Laxman drawing, perceived as showing students in Tamil Nadu agitating against Hindi in 1965 in a poor light, is one of the 10 cartoons recommended for removal from NCERT textbooks by a committee. The cartoon on the anti-Hindi agitation, published in the Class XII Political Science book, angered political parties in Tamil Nadu, with the DMK demanding its removal. While recommending the removal of some “objectionable” cartoons, the six-member...

There could be a turnaround in the monsoon scenario in the next four to five days, according to the latest forecast of the India Meteorological Department (IMD). In its weekly report released on Friday evening, the IMD said “an analysis of the current meteorological conditions indicate increase in rainfall activity in east, central, and north-west India due to development of the seasonal east-west trough, with embedded upper air cyclonic circulation. “The condition...

-The Telegraph Nearly three-fourths of India’s land area received poor rainfall during the first four weeks of the monsoon season, and an active monsoon phase is unlikely within the next week, weather scientists said today. The poor rainfall has stirred concern among agro-meteorology scientists, tasked with translating weather information into advisories for farmers throughout the year, as the period for paddy transplantation draws closer. “Rain during July is always crucial, but this year...