At a time when the Chief Minister and other ministers are praising the rain gods for regular showers and releasing thanksgiving advertisements, the rain shadow areas development department (RSAD) claims that its efforts have paid rich dividends. Impressed by the "work" done by the private aviation company M/s Agni Aviation, the government has decided to continue the cloud seeding operation in the drought-prone areas of the state for another five years, from 2008-09. But no scientific data is available so far that could clearly prove the impact of cloud seeding.

The loom in Aruna Kumari's badly lit, mud-walled house in Epurupalem village runs from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., with either Aruna or her husband working at it constantly. Her ageing grandmother contributes

The honeymoon is over for Mumbai Metro One Ltd, the entity that is to give the city the first phase of its Rs 19,500-crore, 146.5-km metro project. A PPP between Reliance Energy, the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) and an international company, it isn't exactly off the tracks, but there's serious bad weather building.

As the debate on food security rages on, it's worth looking at the success of Deccan Development Society (DDS), a sustainable model with woman farmers in Andhra Pradesh's Medak district. These 5,000 women from 75 villages, says DDS director P.V. Satheesh, are 'multiple-marginalised' both economically and in terms of gender and caste.

With abysmal levels of penetration and awareness, how do you sell the concept of health insurance to the rural poor?

POLA IS THE HARVEST FESTI-val in Maharashtra. On this day every August, farmers in the agricultural belts of the state bathe their buffaloes, paint their horns and parade them around their villages. As the villagers of Bhadumri (in western Vidarbha) were busy sprucing up their cattle in August 2006, 35-year-old Anil Shende, a marginal farmer, staggered out of his two-room mud hut and collapsed.

Nagarjuna Construction Company, the Rs 2,900-crore infrastructure major, sees big business opportunities in the large number of Special Economic Zones, expected to come up in the country. Being among the few companies with capabilities to provide complete solutions for water and environment management, the company is well prepared to take on the challenges for SEZs. Already, it has bagged a major contract for the textile SEZ being developed by Sri Lanka's Brandix in Visakhapatnam, according to Mr V. Radha Krishna, Associate Director and Head (Water and Environment). On the anvil

About 1.87 crore below poverty line families, holding white ration cards in Andhra Pradesh would start getting rice at Rs 2 per kg within a week. The State Cabinet, which met here on Thursday put its stamp of approval on the welfare scheme which will put an over all burden of about Rs 3,000 crore per annum on the exchequer. The scheme was abandoned by the then Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu in 1996.

The intense and widespread rain over the southern peninsula in March is the highest rainfall recorded in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu since 1875.