-The Hindu Even better performing States have not fared well in achieving gender equality The NITI Aayog’s Sustainable Development Goals Index for 2019, released on Monday, does not reveal any surprising information. The South’s Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka are joined by Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Goa as the best performers while the northern/north-central and north-eastern States have been laggardly in achieving the U.N.-mandated goals by 2030. Poor performers...

-The Indian Express The 2019 Human Development Report points to the limits of economic growth in lifting all boats. It also offers a way forward. Grappling with Delhi’s poor air quality for these last couple of months, I have become aware of a stark difference in the way I cope with air pollution, and the way many others do not — because they cannot. Despite the growing evidence detailing the catastrophic impact...

Almost one in every five suicides in the world is committed by self-poisoning with pesticide, which mostly occur in rural, agricultural areas of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), states a new publication entitled 'Preventing Suicide: A resource for pesticide registrars and regulators'. Published jointly by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the booklet says that the adoption of green revolution technology...

-TheWire.in Even more dangerously, demographically driven population regulation measures, ignore women's rights over their own bodies. The spectre of population control has emerged to haunt us yet again. The Prime Minister of India, in his Independence Day speech on the August 15, expressed concern about “population explosion creating various problems for the coming generations” and complemented those who “follow the policy of the small family” as contributing to the development of...

-Livemint.com * The population explosion has major impacts on the country ranging from health, social, environmental and economic * Gender preferences are also contributing to the population explosion in India New Delhi: Pointing out population growth as a major concern in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech called for a deeper thought towards the issue. Apparently, the mention was an indication that the government is devising a policy or...