Hyderabad, Dec. 16: Around 85 per cent of the rural population in the state still defecates in the open despite efforts made to end the practice through the total sanitation campaign. Though 58 per cent of the the rural areas have toilets, their use is only around 30 per cent.

Kadapa, Dec. 15: The heavy downpour that lashed the district for about 10 days recently caused by

P. Sainath

MUMBAI: Suicides by farmers of Maharashtra crossed the 4,000-mark in 2007, for the third time in four years, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

As many as 4,238 farmers of the State took their lives that year, the latest for which data are available, accounting for a fourth of 16,632 farmer suicides in the country.

Guntur, Dec. 10: Villagers of Mothadaka, Nidumukkala, LG Pudi and Pedaparimi of Tadikonda mandal in Guntur district are panicky over the prowling of two leopards for the past 10 days.

Hyderabad, Dec. 10: Though tour operators offer various adventure tourism packages including visits to rocky terrains and hills, there are complaints that such initiatives are also spoiling the environment.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has promised that

Dec. 9: Ruling out pre-ponement of Assembly polls in the state, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy on Tuesday sought the intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in stopping the construction of 11 barrages across the river Godavari in Maharashtra.

Hyderabad Dec 8: Several areas in the rich coastal Godavari districts are facing a threat of losing drinking water supply because of oil exploration in the Krishna-Godavari basin.

HYDERABAD: The Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) has pulled up the State for failing to provide adequate school infrastructure for implementing the mid-day meal scheme and inflating the enrolment figures while seeking Central allotment of rice.

Hyderabad Dec. 5: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has said that the implementation of the mid-day meal scheme in the state was lacking in coordination and overall perspective. The latest CAG report tabled in the Assembly said that this has led to delays in assessing the requirements of food grains and differences in the quantity of cooked meals provided to children.