-The Telegraph New Delhi: Union home ministry sources today blamed the Haryana government's "wilful neglect" and "abject surrender to lumpen elements" for yesterday's mayhem by Dera Sacha Sauda followers. "Initial assessment reports from the ground suggest a complete administrative and police failure. There was no leadership and no instruction from the police brass to deal with the mob. The will was lacking," a senior ministry bureaucrat told The Telegraph . "It points to...

-The Hindu Business Line New Delhi: As floods continue ravage large parts of the country, Uma Bharti, Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, on Saturday reviewed the situation and the action being taken at the national level. After the meeting, Bharti announced that she would visit Uttar Pradesh and Bihar next week, according to an official release. “The Minister will visit Uttar Pradesh on 21st August and Bihar on...

-The Indian Express Srijan Mahila Vikas Sahyog Samiti Limited, providing vocational training to women and selling pickles, allegedly pilfered funds from Bhagalpur district Administration’s various accounts for at least half a dozen welfare schemes. Bhagalpur: Over 10 years and across two governments, of JD(U)-BJP and the RJD-JDU, one Bhagalpur NGO allegedly siphoned off an estimated Rs 700 crore of public funds. Nine FIRs and 12 arrests later, the Bihar government ordered...

-The Telegraph Calcutta: Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the chairman and managing director of biotechnology company Biocon, today said incidents like the Gorakhpur hospital child deaths should trigger the debate "why we spend only 1 per cent of our GDP on health care". Mazumdar-Shaw, who was awarded DSc (honoris causa) by Presidency University, said: "A very, very worrying trend in India is that we spend only 1 per cent of our GDP on health care....

-The Indian Express Flood water started rising suddenly early morning on the outskirts of Gorakhpur and Maharajganj as many embankments developed cracks. By the end of the day, roads as well as villages were submerged. Gorakhpur/ Maharajganj: Already fighting disease, villagers of eastern Uttar Pradesh found themselves at the mercy of floods Wednesday as they had to to take shelter on the roadside with their children and cattle. Flood water started rising suddenly...