-The Telegraph The Union government today announced contingency measures, including the rollout of alternative crops and additional power for irrigation, in response to the persistently poor monsoon rainfall. The crop area sown this year is about 8 million hectares lower than last year but agrometeorology experts say the cumulative area sown with rice can be determined only around early August. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has directed various ministries to co-ordinate their efforts with...

-The Times of India A day after US President Barack Obama's call for lifting of foreign investment curbs by India, the government on Monday shot back asking Washington not to meddle with the country's internal affairs and suggested that the world's largest economy should lead the fight against protectionism. The statement came amid protests from the Opposition, which asked the government not succumb to US pressure. "He (Obama) has every right to...

-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...

-The Times of India BOLPUR/NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister's office on Monday took serious note of an incident where a Class-V student of Visva-Bharati's Patha Bhavan school was forced to lick her urine as punishment for bedwetting. The PM is the university's chancellor and his office has asked for a report. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights too has slapped a notice on the state government asking for a...

The NAC lies defanged; the markets leap for joy at Manmohan’s & Co’s charge of a ‘new’ economy How swiftly things change. Just a month ago, the great Indian growth story was being written off. Now, the “new economy”, run by the PM-cum-FM, will sift through the rubble of under-seven per cent growth, find the hidden springs of recovery and throw in some reforms for good measure. A top taxman says...