-PTI KANPUR: The water level in the Ganga in Kanpur is a mere 46-cm below the danger mark, prompting the district administration to issue a high alert for the villages situated on the banks of the river, officials said. "The water in the river is currently flowing at 113.54m, above the red mark of 113m, and a few centimetres below the danger mark of 114m," said the nodal officer for relief work...

-The Times of India CHANDIGARH: Shedding their image of being indifferent to the idea of women empowerment, a cluster of 20 villages under the Thuakhap of Jind district has banned sex selection and female feticide and announced a fine of Rs 11,000 on violators. The violators would be socially boycotted in case the offence is repeated. According to the khap spokesperson, Jitender Singh Chhattar, the community leaders, in a meeting held on Sunday...

-Frontline Professor Sukhpal Singh, a faculty member of the Centre for Management of Agriculture at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, has been researching and documenting the process of contract farming and food supply chains in India for more than a decade. He is of the view that the small farmer is being excluded in the method currently in place, which defeats the very purpose of improving Indian agriculture. Sukhpal Singh,...

-The Indian Express Two years back, 27 high-density national highway corridors were awarded amid much fanfare to developers who outbid competitors by promising to pay the government a "premium", instead of the general practice of seeking a capital grant from the Centre. Of these projects, all of which were touted as a testimony to renewed investor confidence in the roads sector, 24 sections worth a whopping Rs 34,000 crore and spanning...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Congress is planning a grand rollout of the food security scheme, likely on Rajiv Gandhi's birth anniversary on August 20, in what appears a strong bid to woo the vast beneficiary group ahead of the 2014 elections. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi will meet party chief ministers and key leaders on Saturday to hammer out the strategy for a big bang launch of the food law that...