Jharkhand today declared 12 districts drought-hit, acknowledging that poor rainfall had affected crop cultivation and setting in motion usual administrative measures to initiate relief measures on a war footing. At a meeting of the governor’s advisory council, the 12 districts were identified as Latehar, Ramgarh, Chatra, Seraikela-Kharsawan, Khunti, East Singhbhum, Jamtara, Palamau, Dhanbad, Bokaro, Ranchi and Jamtara. The Telegraph had reported yesterday that the governor’s council was likely to name the districts...

Sujatha Sundaran, 25, sits on a rickety bench and points to a rubber nursery that was a helipad about a decade ago in Mundakkai colony in the heart of Kerala’s northern district of Kasargod. Local children used to watch with awe as the choppers flew overhead and sprayed the insecticide endosulfan on the cashew groves of the Plantation Corp. of Kerala Ltd, a state government undertaking. She was eight when she...

The Group of Ministers (GoM) on Bhopal gas disaster is understood to have decided on Monday to recommend enhanced compensation to the families of those dead in the gas leak and to those debilitated permanently or partially. Sources said the compensation would be to the tune of Rs. 10 lakh for the kin of those dead. Those with permanent disability would be compensated to the tune of Rs five lakh...

One year after anti-Maoist operations began in this district, it is a story of mixed success. While normal life has been restored, with offices, shops and schools having re-opened, vehicles back on the roads and farmers back in the fields, an eerie calm prevails. Villagers still complain of late-night gunfights and sudden police raids keeping them up through most nights. They are haunted by fears of discovering a bullet-riddled body...

The alacrity shown by the government in setting up a Group of Ministers (GoM) to look into all issues of the Bhopal gas tragedy - including adequacy of compensation - was clearly missing just three years ago when the UPA government opposed tooth and nail any enhancement of payment to the sufferers. Two applications by NGOs - Bhopal Gas Peedith Mahila Udyog Sanghathan (BGPMUS) and Bhopal Gas Peedith Sangharsh Sahayog...