-The Times of India In a sternly-worded letter dashed off to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Andhra Pradesh government has urged the institution to not underestimate the distressful conditions prevailing in the state for the past three years, which has forced as many as 6,792 farmers to commit suicide. The nine-page letter dated July 25, countering RBI's argument about AP reporting no cases of acute concern among farmers, has been...

-Tehelka Bureau Though well-meaning, the new Land Acquisition Act is far from being a perfect legislation. But the urgency to amend a law even before a real field test signals a larger agenda. By all counts, this was expected. Long before he became the BJP and subsequently the nation's chosen one, Narendra Modi had made it clear that his model of development gains from the ease of doing business. Then, days ahead...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: The ration card - the government issued booklet for availing of subsidized food under the public distribution service - is set to lose its privileged status as a valid document for opening bank accounts. Aadhaar is now set to become the single universal document for opening a bank account in India. In a circular dated July 17 addressed to banks, the RBI said that it has revised...

-Economic and Political Weekly     Sustained and focused efforts have to be made by the Tamil Nadu state government to provide relief and rehabilitation to the drought affected people of the state. S Rajendran (myrajendran@gmail.com) is with the Department of Economics, Periyar University, Salem, Tamil Nadu. Due to the failure of the north-east monsoon in December 2013, Tamil Nadu is witnessing drought like conditions this year, leading to poor agricultural productivity, rural distress,...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Top cardiologists of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here have decided to start an initiative called the Society for Less Investigative Medicine (SLIM) - a movement that aims to take on the growing menace of excessive medical investigations, starting with cardiology. Several studies across the world have conclusively established that generalized annual health check-ups are unnecessary and add enormously to healthcare costs without...