-SabrangIndia.in In Pratapgarh, a village that could be anywhere in the Hindi belt, a young man, Ravi, gets to know that his wife, Seema, is pregnant with a girl child, third time in a row. He wants her to get an abortion because he wants a male child. He forces Seema to accompany him to a doctor who agrees to conduct the abortion though the foetus is past the 20-week deadline...

-The Hindu Hundreds of government schools, especially in tribal-dominated districts, have been shut down over the past year. Elizabeth Kuruvilla reports on the closures, the mushrooming of private schools, and the battles waged by tribal villages to keep state-funded local schools open It’s a little past four in the afternoon, the time when schools ring their closing bells in the Hatsesikhal cluster of Odisha’s tribal-dominated Rayagada district. Just before Sekhal Primary School...

-The Telegraph Delhi: Explosions triggered by a fire ripped through a PLAstic and firecracker factory in Delhi on Saturday evening, killing at least 17 workers in the capital's worst blaze since the 1997 Uphaar cinema tragedy. "Our firemen reported that the fire was in a firecracker factory at the basement, ground and first floors," chief fire officer Atul Garg said. "It was not a big fire. But explosions inside the factory resulted...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Beno Zephine, India's first 100% visually-impaired person to join the Indian Foreign Service in 2015, was among 111 women felicitated by President Ram Nath Kovind for their remarkable journey as "first ladies" in their respective fields. Currently serving in the Indian embassy in Paris, this young woman's story showcases how will power coupled with support at home can help overcome any physical disability. In the absence...

-The Indian Express Behind dumping of potatoes, including outside Assembly, a bumper crop and insufficient storage space. Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh, the largest potato producing state with about 35% of the country’s total output, has had a bumper crop in 2016-17 — over 155 lakh tonnes — with the result that potatoes are rotting along roadsides and outside cold storage units. What threw the spotlight on the surplus — apparently more than the government...