Census 2011 data bring into the open Maharashtra’s terrible record in sex-selective abortions. In early June, Vijaymala Patekar, a mother of four girls, haemorrhaged to death at a hospital in Parli, Beed district, Maharashtra. She was reportedly in her second trimester of pregnancy. Her family had allegedly forced her to abort the foetus when they learnt it was a girl child. Sudam Munde, the doctor who performed the procedure, fled Parli but...

-The Telegraph Ranchi: Jharkhand High Court today adjourned a hearing on the Nagri land acquisition controversy till Monday but asked the state to begin a dialogue with villagers who have disrupted construction of campuses of three national academic institutes. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Tatia and Justice Jaya Roy allowed the adjournment since advocate-general Anil Sinha was away in New Delhi, but asked the state government to work out a...

ASHAs will continue to bear the burden of the government's rural health mission as a new order lists more incentive-based services. On May 31, a Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare order listed additional incentivised duties for accredited social health activists, or ASHAs, but was silent on the issue of regularisation of their employment. ASHAs, who bridge the gap between the rural population and the nearest health care outlets under...

-The Economic Times PUNE: Ravindra Daftari, chairman , Daftari Agro, said, "We used to sell 2,000 packets of desi seeds. But this year, sales went up to 9,000 packets. Next year, we plan to increase the production of desi seeds by four times."  Mahabeej, the Maharashtra government's seed corporation, has undertaken a programme with Punjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth (PKV), Akola, to increase the production of desi cotton seeds from 200 quintals this...

-The Times of India GUWAHATI: Assam is no stranger to floods. But this deluge is the worst it has seen in many years. The first wave of floods—from April to Juneclaimed 126 lives. More than 700 animals in Kaziranga National Park and elsewhere have died. Fears of a second wave hitting soon loom large. The annual devastation comes in multiple waves in Assam—three to four—starting from April. According to the state disaster...