-The Business Standard The Uttarakhand floods have put the spotlight on the competence of the national body which was created with a vision 'to build a safer and disaster-resilient India' When thousands got swept away by floods in Uttarakhand on the night of June 16, little help reached the mountains till at least a day had passed. Though the weather department had issued a warning, the magnitude of the disaster shows that...

-The Hindu Hassan (Karnataka): A sum of Rs. 10 lakh, meant for relief to drought-hit small and medium farmers in Arkalgud taluk, has allegedly been drawn by tampering with cheques and forging the signature of the tahsildar. The fraud came to light after tahsildar K.P. Eshwarappa filed a complaint with the police on Tuesday seeking a probe. The money was withdrawn from the Revenue Department's official savings account at the Arkalgud branch...

-The Economic Times MUMBAI: The drought-hit districts of Maharashtra have started receiving some rainfall but not enough, just yet, according to the state government. "Mumbai, Konkan region and western parts of Maharashtra have received rainfall much above average. However the drought hit areas are not getting enough monsoon rains and so the state government has decided to continue with relief measures in the area", Maharashtra's relief and rehabilitation minister Patangrao...

-PTI NEW DELHI: Riding on strong easterlies, monsoon made a grand entry today in the national capital even as seasonal rains covered the entire country one month in advance. South-west monsoon, which kept its June 1 date with Kerala, made rapid progress across the country bringing bountiful showers all along and giving relief to most drought- hit regions. The monsoon onset in Delhi today was also a fortnight in advance as the normal...

-The Economic Times KOLKATA: Prices of vegetables and spices have dropped up to 20% in the past month and are likely to remain low as higher output along with the brisk start to the monsoon has calmed the market. The drop in vegetable prices, on top of the global fall in various commodities from aluminium to zinc, is good news for policymakers as stubbornly high inflation has hindered moves to cut interest...