-IANS Nearly 56 percent of families in Bihar have a mobile or landline connection, but about 77 percent of the population lack toilets, says a census report, highlighting the paradoxes in the state which has taken big leaps in development but also lagged behind in key areas. "Till 2001, only 2.2 percent families were using any kind of telecom facility in Bihar, now over half of its population owns a phone, as...

Be prepared for power outages ahead as coal supplies to 30 out of India's 95 thermal power plants have reached alarming levels.  Out of these 30 power stations that produce 26,320 mega-watt (mw) of power, 25 plants are running on less than four days of coal stocks, according to data available with the power ministry's advisory wing, Central Electricity Authority (CEA). Of the 25, five are from National Thermal Power Corp...

The northern region of Gujarat State in western India is semi-arid and prone to droughts, receiving almost all of its rain during the monsoon season between June and September. But for the past three decades, many crop and dairy farms have remained green—even during the dry season. That's because farmers have invested in wells and pumps, using massive amounts of electricity to extract water from deep aquifers. The government has artificially propped...

The agitation against the Kudankulam nuclear power plant can be seen as a case of activism gone berserk. The high-octane drama against the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) in Tamil Nadu has wound down. The seven-month-long agitation led by the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) at Idinthakarai village in Tirunelveli district, demanding the closure of the ready-to-be commissioned project, ended on March 27 when S.P. Udayakumar, PMANE convener, called off...

-The Hindu Repayment of all cooperative crop loans to be staggered The State government on Tuesday announced in the Legislative Assembly that there would be waiver of land revenue collection in all the 123 drought-hit taluks encompassing 24 districts of the State, with immediate effect. Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda, replying to a discussion (initially sought to be taken up as an adjournment motion) on the drought which was brought on by deficient...