-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...

-The Indian Express   Affected children are largely from around a litchi plantation in Malda West Bengal: In the last three days, nine babies aged three to five have died in Malda district after showing symptoms that suggested acute encephalitis syndrome. A seasonal disease for years in UP's Gorakhpur and Bihar's Muzaffarpur, AES appears to have broken out in West Bengal for the first time, alarming scientists who are wondering if the children...

-The Hindu   Report establishes the nature of socio-economic disparities Kolkata: A report on the status of Muslims in West Bengal released on Saturday gives startling information on the socio-economic status of the community. The report suggests that only 17 per cent of Muslims in the State live in urban settlements as against the national average of 28 per cent. The report underscores the fact that the condition of Muslims has not improved much...

-Al Jazeera   Activists and feminists seek implementation of law to check violence against women as new government is sworn in. New Delhi - Two days after Narendra Modi emerged victorious in India's national elections, Kiran battled the heat and crowd to see the man she had voted for in the ancient city of Varanasi. Modi, a leader of the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, who took oath as the prime minister of India on...

-Economic and Political Weekly     Illiteracy levels are high across all categories of disability and very high for children with visual, multiple and mental disabilities compared to national averages. Generating awareness that the disabled have full rights to appropriate education in mainstream schools and that it is the duty of those involved in administration at every level, including schools, to ensure that they have access to education is of utmost importance. Ranjita Dawn...