-The Times of India RANCHI: If deposits in banks are indicative of prosperity of a region, Jharkhand villages have been blazing quite a TRAIl over the past couple of years. The volume of money deposited with rural bank branches witnessed a whopping 34% increase over the last fiscal as against increase of mere 19% in the urban bank branches. With emphasis on financial inclusion, linking MGNREGA wages with bank accounts and...

-The Times of India India aims to meet the much-awaited goal of reaching the total fertility rate(TFR) — the average number of children born to a woman —to 2.1% by the end of 12th five year plan (2012-17). The Planning Commission is likely to set the TFR target of 2.1 in its 12th Plan document, which is likely to be cleared by National Development Council (NDC) in October. "India is on...

-Live Mint Despite a directive, and later a final warning from the Supreme Court, some states are yet to notify core areas that include tiger breeding grounds The Supreme Court will on Wednesday assess whether state governments have complied with its order to notify core and buffer areas of tiger reserves in line with the provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, after banning organized tourism in breeding grounds of the big cats...

-The Hindustan Times The country is once again dangerously adrift in a stormy sea of competitive hate politics. The signs are both ominous and familiar — the systematic creation of hatred against people because of their ethnicity or religion; rumours and hate propaganda choking the internet; the public moral justification of violence against targeted communities on grounds of ‘larger’ alleged wrongs; and weak-kneed State action against people and organisations which preach...

-The HIndustan Times The images bore an uncanny resemblance to Partition snap-shots. TRAIns packed with people barely able to find standing room, ferrying refugees in their own land.  Even the overflowing toilets were choc-a-bloc with panicky residents of the North-East. Everyone fleeing an unknown enemy, everyone desperate to get back to the security of their own homes. Two TRAIns from Bengaluru chugged into Howrah station on Friday carrying thousands of passengers en route...