-The Times of India The monsoon in August has beaten most expectations, including the India Meteorological Department's outlook of 96% rain for the month, by registering 99.6% of normal rainfall (till August 29). The rain rally, particularly impressive in north India, has raised hopes of a better than expected kharif crop output. The overall monsoon deficit now stands at 12%, considerably better than 19% when the month began. The Northern states, which...

-The Hindu Stereotypical government policies and global approaches persist in family planning programmes. Urmila is a 40-year-old domestic worker in western Uttar Pradesh. The mother of six children, all girls, she is now pregnant again and is keen on carrying on with the pregnancy. Her husband is unemployed and is an alcoholic. His relatives have assured her that they will help her to bring up the child and have also hinted...

-The United Nations More consolidated efforts to combat the threat of climate change and counter its ripple effects on global food security are needed amid an intensifying global drought and increasing temperatures worldwide, the United Nations declared today. “Climate change is projected to increase the frequency, intensity, and duration of droughts, with impacts on many sectors, in particular food, water, and energy,” said World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General Michel Jarraud in a...

-The Times of India Though El Nino concerns still loom large over the coming month, August has been wetter than expected. Rains in the last 16 days have lashed the parched fields of most parts of the country, especially the northern and western parts which were reeling under acute rain deficiency. More rains have recharged depleted reservoirs. Water level in 84 main reservoirs is at 51% of the full reservoir level, equalling...

-The Economic Times KOLKATA/AHMEDABAD: Power sector officials from Ahmedabad to Kolkata are fretting over the indiscipline of Northern states and are seeking legislative changes to imprison those responsible for drawing excessive electricity and putting at risk power supply to law-abiding states.  Most officials in eastern and western India say that the unprecedented breakdowns of power supply this week were avoidable. Officials are angry with the Northern Regional Power Committee (NRPC), the body...