-Live Mint   Programme that aims to provide basic facilities such as drinking water may focus on census towns and small cities New Delhi: The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is likely to announce a mission aimed at providing urban facilities in rural areas in the Union budget in July, a promise the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which leads the ruling coalition, made in its election manifesto. The mission is aimed at providing...

-The Hindu   Kolkata (West Bengal): Of the 341 blocks in the State, 81 blocks have water with more arsenic than the permissible limit and 49 blocks with more fluoride than the standard value. North 24 Parganas district, where about 20 blocks are affected with arsenic contamination, is the worst affected and is followed by Nadia, where 17 blocks and Murshidabad with 14 blocks where arsenic in groundwater is higher than the limit. Certain...

-Down to Earth   The Gram Nyayalaya Act was passed in 2008 to make the judicial process participatory, inexpensive and accessible to rural India. But rural courts are still few and far between When a mobile court visited Luhari village in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur district a year ago, it was a blessing for people like Birsan Singh. A tea vendor, Birsan would lose his daily income whenever he had to attend court. He...

-The Times of India   NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi government officially acknowledged that it is gearing for its first big test with the Met downgrading its monsoon forecast from 95% to a likely 93% of the long period average rainfall. "The government is alert about the possibility of a subnormal monsoon this year and contingency plans are being prepared," President Pranab Mukherjee said in his address to Parliament on Monday. The official word...

-The Hindustan Times     For India, the monsoon is more than just a cool respite: It's the economy's life-blood. It's a long expedition nature undertakes each year. Drafts of early-summer breeze in from the southern Pacific stream northwards, preparing to travel more than 8,000 km to reach Asia in time and picking up moisture on the way. If the Pacific winds are one essential ingredient of a perfect monsoon, the Indian...