-The Telegraph JALNA AND AHMEDNAGAR: Sakharam Misal is frank. Water, he says, is big business. In Jalna district, which has run out of water, the man in his late 50s is among the most sought after. He runs a water tanker business and sells water to the thirsty millions. Misal's cellphone keeps ringing with desperate calls for water. His tankers are booked in advance and the waiting list stretches over a week. Drought,...

-The Indian Express On Monday, the Bengali new year's day, viewers who tuned into Bengali music channel Tara Muzik witnessed a spectacle never seen before on Indian TV. Anchors of the channel and independent artistes called in to present Barsha Baran, a programme to celebrate the new year 1420, wept copiously on camera while announcing that the channel, facing an unprecedented "crisis of survival", was shutting down. Hundreds of viewers commiserated with...

-The Times of India Recognizing that the plethora of dams built and planned in the Ganga basin could almost empty the river of its waters in the winter season, an inter-ministerial group has recommended that the projects be re-engineered to maintain 30-50% of water flow in the lean period of December-March. The group headed by Planning Commission member B K Chaturvedi also recommended that electricity production in the existing and upcoming dams...

-The Telegraph   Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government proposes to set up review committees at village levels and urban areas to keep a tab on all health related programmes. The committees, which will have people from various walks of life, will do social audit of the projects being implemented in their areas. Health and family welfare minister Damodar Rout today said: "The committees will be set up in rural as well as urban areas. All...

-The Hindu   When the Supreme Court has recognised the right to go on hunger strike, why is Irom Sharmila's protest against impunity of the armed forces a criminal act? Over the past 12 years, Irom Sharmila Chanu has carried on an inconceivable hunger strike, which has seen her body wither and her skin turn pale. During this period, she has emerged as the face of the civilian resistance to the immunity, and...