-CNN-IBN Beed: The Maharashtra state government has promised to act against rampant female foeticide in Beed district that was reported by CNN-IBN earlier. The state government will meet Maharshtra Medical Council (MCI), Indian Medical Association (IMA) and radiologists to find a way to curb foeticide. They will all be looking at a proposal to shut down all stand-alone sonography centres and ban some abortion drugs. The decision comes after CNN-IBN reported from Beed...

-The Hindu   To provide water supply, drainage, solid waste management and street lighting  If a rural area boasts a high population — well above 5,000, sometimes as high as 20,000 — with most of its workforce in non-farm jobs, is it a village or a town? For almost 4,000 such areas, the definition is unclear: the census calls them towns, but since they have gram panchayats rather than municipal corporations, the government...

-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 Hindu The Madras High Court on Wednesday dismissed a public interest litigation petition seeking a direction to the Centre to allot the entire 2000 MW to be generated by the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project to Tamil Nadu. In its order, the First Bench comprising the Chief Justice M.Y.Eqbal and Justice T.S.Sivagnanam said the petitioner had not even made any representation to the authorities concerned regarding the matter. It was a policy...

In South Mumbai's upscale Malabar Hill, a neighbourhood of 6,000 people share 52 toilets, 26 for men and 26 for women. That works out to around 115 people per toilet. Nearby live some of the oldest and richest families of the city with homes where one person may have a choice of many toilets. But this is Simla Nagar, where 720 households are precariously perched on a not so wealthy slope...