-The Hindu This year, India can, it seems, look forward to good rains. Last year's monsoon could easily have slipped into a full-scale drought but was saved by exceptionally heavy rains in September. Even so, almost one-third of the country received far too little rain and has been left parched, with water resources running low. A good monsoon now is essential for agriculture and for the replenishment of reservoirs and aquifers....

-The Hindu Business Line   Arsenic and fluoride contaminated water has condemned millions to live wasted lives in West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Business Line visited several villages in the affected regions for this special report by A. Srinivas. Sixty-nine-year-old Renubala Ari of Deganga village in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district is counting her last days. But it is not her death that worries her. Blind in both eyes and with painful...

-The Hindu   Heaps of fruit lay scattered in many orchards in Krishna district KEERTIRAYANIGUDEM (KRISHNA DT.): Farmers have expected a ‘windfall' and consumers are eagerly waiting for the ‘king of fruit' to enter the market. But, Saturday's rain and gale dashed the hopes of one and all. Farmers, however, were the worst-hit. The early morning activity in the mango orchards in the Central and Western Krishna district on Sunday reflected the extent of damage...

-Tehelka With 65 percent of the population below the age of 35, India boasts of an unparalleled generational dividend, but are we turning this potential into a disaster? Avalok Langer spots a ticking time bomb Nutrition & Health* 40% of children in India are malnourished 43% of children in the age group of 12-23 months receive full immunisation 48%+ of children are underweight 50%+ of all deaths under age 5 are related to malnutrition 45% of children...

-The Hindu In the absence of safety gear, silica mine workers suffer the worst consequences Shankargarh, a block along the south-western fringes of Allahabad district in Uttar Pradesh, is widely known as a large supplier of silica sand to the glass industry. The area is rocky and unfit for cultivation, leaving its major inhabitants- the Kol tribe, and Chamar and Kumbi castes little option but to engage in stone quarrying and sand...