NEW DELHI, India

Municipal authorities in the Indian capital plan to amend a law to allow residents to keep cattle at home as long as they obtain a licence. Under the new policy a resident will be allowed to keep one “milking” animal at home, but would face strict penalties if the animal was allowed to stray, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported. Straying cattle have long been a menace for traffic and pedestrians in the Indian capital. In India, the cow is considered holy and is worshipped by Hindus.

HYDERABAD, India

A poverty-stricken single mother in India sold her newborn son to a childless couple for $150 so that she could pay her medical bill. The 20-year-old woman, Rajitha, delivered the baby by Caesarean section in the town of Kothagudem in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, but could not afford the $50 hospital fee. A rickshaw driver friend gave her $150 for the baby, which he planned to raise with his wife. Welfare officials want the baby to be reunited with his mother so she can breastfeed him. They said the mother and child would then be shifted to a state-run facility where Rajitha can decide if she wants to put the baby up for adoption.

NEW DELHI, India

Tension among students and parents in India will reach a feverish pitch this week when over 1.4 million high school and senior secondary school students take part in board exams. With 824,438 Class 10 students aged 16, and 637,578 Class 12 students aged 18, India has prepared 5,000 exam centres across the country. To combat pressure, authorities for the first time this year launched help lines with counsellors addressing various problems of students, ranging from coping with exam pressure to methods of solving questions.

BHOPAL, India

Nepal's former ruler Gyanendra was in Bhopal under heavy security to attend the marriage of his niece, sources close to the royal family said. The ex-monarch was accompanied by his wife Komal, sister Sobha Singh and other family members. The visit of the ex-royals was kept a closely guarded secret by state government officials due to security reasons. The former Nepal king is visiting India for the first time since being dethroned following abolition of the 240-year-old Nepal monarchy in 2008.

NEW DELHI, India

Authorities in India are targeting stores selling bogus drugs and used syringes after a hepatitis B outbreak left 32 people dead. CNN reported five health care providers have been arrested over the incidents. Public health officials have recorded 111 cases of hepatitis B infection in India’s western Gujarat state, including the 32 deaths. The infection occurs through contaminated blood transfusions and the sharing of contaminated needles or syringes.

BHUBANESWAR, India

A 35-year-old farmer committed suicide in Orissa after a bank allegedly denied him a crop loan, a newspaper report said. Niranjan Das, took loans of $620 from relatives, neighbours and a landlord to raise crops with a hope that he would repay the amount after getting a loan from the bank. Despite multi-million dollars in agrarian aid, close to 200,000 farmers have committed suicide in India since 1997. In the Vidarbha area alone over 1,200 farmers have committed suicide since April 2008, when a loan waiver package was announced.

UTAR PRADESH, India

At least 10 people were killed and 20 injured when a train hit a bus carrying people from a marriage party, at a railway crossing in Uttar Pradesh, northern India. The accident happened 250 kilometres from Lucknow, state capital of Uttar Pradesh. Six seriously injured people are fighting for life in hospital. The current late winter season is the most favored time for Indians to get married.

GANDHINAGAR, India

Seven years after hundreds of Muslims were killed in riots in the Indian state of Gujarat, the names of the missing are to be added to the death toll. That will bring the death toll to 1,180, up from 952. Some of the survivors said the decision means finally recognizing that relatives are dead. Others said the official declaration is a relief and likely to be a practical help. The riots that began Feb. 28, 2002, were sparked by a Muslim attack on a train carrying Hindu pilgrims the previous day.

NEW DELHI, India

A parliamentary standing committee on the implementation of prison reforms said in its report that the prisoners risk HIV and other diseases as they share shaving blades. “Several prisoners use the same blade for shaving. This may result in diseases, including HIV/AIDS,” said the report. The parliamentary sub-committee set up in April 2007 visited various jails across the country. Its report also found that poverty-stricken accused do not get sufficient financial help to defend themselves in court.