-The Hindustan Times A day after G-20 sherpa Suresh Prabhu said that India should not align with China on climate issues, the government distanced itself from his view with environment minister Prakash Javadekar saying it was his "personal" opinion. Prabhu comments had led to speculation that India may break away from the Basic group that has India and China with South Africa and Brazil. Javadekar refused to either confirm or deny reiterating...

-The Hindustan Times Nalgonda/Warangal: Dasari Ramulu, 45, and Polaboyina Pochaiah, 35, are two of the 348 Telangana farmers, who committed suicide since June 2 when Telangana became a state. The reasons behind their decision are not unique - crop failures due to poor rains and a nonexistent irrigation system and debt burdens. The debt-to-death arithmetic is simple: Each attempt to get water through bore wells costs Rs. 1 lakh and cotton seeds...

-The Hindustan Times For fiscal prudence and better outcome of public expenditure, the Narendra Modi government is likely to downsize some of the social sector schemes, including the rural job guarantee programme, the biggest grosser of the central funds. Finance minister Arun Jaitley had allocated about Rs. 33,351 crore for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) in his budget this July but many believe that the huge expenditure was not...

-The Hindustan Times The country is ostensibly in the throes of a great social movement for sanitation. Gandhi's name is evoked, Prime Minister Narendra Modi leads from the front, ministers lift brooms for cameras, and officers, college and school children take oaths against littering and to clean their surroundings. Earlier the PM pledges in his Independence Day speech toilets for girls and boys in all schools. It appears that the squalor of...

-The Hindustan Times Shimla: Even as the Himachal government boasts of having achieved women's empowerment in the state, everyday hardships are leading to stress and other mental and physical health problems among females in rural areas. Women have been the backbone of the state's economy but a host of vexatious issues they have to continually struggle with still make their life difficult. Poor healthcare facilities, lack of teachers, water scarcity...