-Pratirodh.com The streets of the obscure town of Pandharkawda in Yavatmal district of Maharashtra have come to life. Hundreds of villagers crowd them for the weekly haat to buy their supplies of vegetables, spices, pulses and tobacco, while farmers throng shops selling seeds, pesticides, manure and farm commodities. Dressed in bright cotton sarees, women haggle with vendors. Even doctors, especially dentists, are having a busy day with long queues of patients...

-IANS London: Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are projected to rise by 2.6 per cent by the end of 2012, reaching a record high of 35.6 billion tonnes, or 58 per cent above 1990 levels, the baseline year for the Kyoto Protocol, says a study. The findings of Global Carbon Project (GCP), co-led by researchers from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia (UEA), say the biggest...

-The Hindu India’s drug price control order, which is vital to the availability of affordable essential medicines, has been whittled down to the point of becoming insignificant. While the number of price-controlled medicines has dwindled over the past three decades, from 347 to 74, the pharmaceutical industry has been pursuing super profits. The High Level Expert Group of the Planning Commission on Universal Health Coverage noted in its report that price...

-The Hindustan Times The direct cash transfer in 42 schemes to start from next year is old wine in new bottle with beneficiaries under these schemes already receiving money directly into their bank accounts. Finance minister P Chidambaram and rural development minister Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday announced that money under these 42 schemes of the central government would be transferred directly into bank accounts of beneficiaries in 51 districts from next January. The list...

-The Times of India The Delhi government is set to propose an additional 15% reservation for children from poor families in most private schools in the city. According to the proposal, which will be presented before the high court once it's cleared by the chief minister, the quota will be applicable to admissions made from class II to XII. The reservation, if passed by the court, will affect 394 private recognized schools...