-The Hindu It is easy to enrol them in school, but difficult to retain them Bangalore: It is around noon and a noisy bunch of boys are playing lagori in a small colony nestling between tall buildings in Papareddy Palya near Nagarabhavi II Stage. Some distance away, 13-year-old Basalingamma, daughter of a migrant labourer from Raichur, is watching the boys, carrying her elder sister's six-month-old son on her hip. The colony has close...

-The United Nations The year 2013 is currently on course to be among the top ten warmest years since modern records began in 1850, the United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said today, adding that melting ice caps and glaciers have contributed to a record high in global sea levels. "Temperatures so far this year are about the same as the average during 2001-2010, which was the warmest decade on record," said...

-Down to Earth Revival of small river in Fatehpur district shows the way Buoyed by the success of revival of a dry rivulet in Fatehpur district, the Uttar Pradesh government is planning to revive all dried up streams of the state under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). The Uttar Pradesh government has directed the state's Department of Rural Development to prepare plans for recharging dried tributaries,...

-Outlook Berhampur (Odisha): Darkness still grips several rural areas of cyclone-ravaged Ganjam district in Odisha even though exactly a month has passed since Phailin hit the district. While restoration work is yet to be completed in rural areas, almost all the urban areas have got back power supply, power distribution company sources said. Of the 475 gram panchayats, power supply was partially restored in 269 panchayat headquarters so far, but fully restored in...

-The Hindustan Times Chandigarh: Pesticide residues are present in blood and urine of every fourth person of Punjab's cotton belt, a Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) study has found. The study has established that around 23% of the people living in rural areas of the state's cotton belt have residues of pesticide in their blood. The study titled 'Reducing pesticide toxicity in the exposed population of Punjab' and funded by...