-The Hindu Alarmed by reports of female foeticide, Rajasthan to adopt a new girl child policy Spurred by alarming reports of female foeticide continuing unabated across the State, the Rajasthan Government has initiated the process for adoption of a new girl child policy with emphasis on saving the female foetus as well as newborn girls. The policy will be the first of its kind anywhere in the country. Principal State Women & Chid...

PUNE/ KOLKATA: Heavy rains lashed Mumbai and parched fields in peninsular India as the monsoon resumed its journey after an agonising 11-day interruption, but the unforeseen 41% rain deficit this month has taken its toll, with vegetable prices rising sharply for the third straight month.  The monsoon, almost stagnant since June 6, touched southern parts of Gujarat and Chhattisgarh on Sunday. It is forecast to gain momentum in the next three...

A war of words has erupted between the chief ministers of Bihar and Gujarat. Bihar's chief minister Nitish Kumar has slammed Narendra Modi for taking potshots at the state's slow socio-economic growth. The altercation began with Modi saying that caste politics has ruined states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Hitting back, Nitish has said that Modi should look at the conditions in his own state before criticising others. For the last...

-Live Mint   Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh is advocating a new approach to fighting the Maoist insurgency that has gripped 78 districts so far. Apart from development and security, the approach involves politics and justice, he said. In an interview, Ramesh warned that in the rush to attain high growth rates, India was placing the interests of tribals below that of mining firms. The minister suggested the setting up of a...

-The Business Standard Planning for deficient monsoon must begin Now that the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has endorsed the fears expressed earlier by foreign weather bureaux about the emergence of the monsoon-unfriendly El Nino in the second half of the season, the government should begin preparing right away for mitigating its adverse impacts on agriculture, water reservoirs and other areas. El Nino, an anomalous rise in sea surface temperature off the...