The ISRO makes its first successful commercial launch by putting the Italian satellite Agile into orbit.

DR. RAMAN Singh became the second Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in the State on December 8, 2003. An Ayurvedic doctor by profession, he entered politics in 1976. While Chhattisgarh was still a part of Madhya Pradesh, he was Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in 1990-92 and 1993-98.

IT is the time of the day when all able-bodied men in any village should be working in the fields. However, at the Biligi rehabilitation centre in Karnataka's Bagalkot district, a group of unemployed men are seated behind an electronic keyboard on the sun-baked floor, practising music for a stage play.

The Sahariya tribal population in Sheopur district continues to suffer from hunger and malnutrition.

THE total seasonal rainfall during the year's southwest monsoon (June 1 to September 30) for the country as a whole was 99 per cent of its long-period average (LPA), which, being within plus or minus 10 per cent of the LPA, can be termed as a `normal' monsoon.

The skewed pattern of rainfall experienced across the country during this year's monsoon appears to be an anomaly.

The cumulative rainfall during the monsoon in northeastern India has been significantly in deficit. Data of the India Meteorological Department shows that 26 of the 57 districts of the region are

Owing to the drastic reduction in rainfall, Assam, which normally witnesses around three floods a year is likely to record a deficit in rice produciton this year. The inadequacy of the irrigation

"THE tribals need to change their attitude and lifestyle," said R.K. Dixit, the Chief Medical Health Officer (CMHO) of Sheopur district in Madhya Pradesh, in response to a query about continuing reports of children starving to death in the region. The Sahariyas, one of the poorest tribal communities in Madhya Pradesh, live mostly in remote villages with little access to health care.

FEW roads cruise so perfectly through life's close hits and misses as the road to Kondamodalu - a quiet, beautiful village nestled in the Papikondalu hills in Devipatnam mandal of East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh - does.

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