Up to one billion people could die this century from smoking or being exposed to tobacco if current rates continue, a senior United Nations health official warned today, urging governments of low- and middle-income countries to adopt the same measures that many wealthier nations have already taken to deter people from smoking. “A cataclysmic future” lies ahead unless serious steps are taken to curb smoking, said Douglas Bettcher, Director of the...

“We will not let the anti-corruption movement die or allow it to be put on the back burner,” say rallyists Supporters of Anna Hazare took out a march here on Sunday extending their support to civil society members of the Lokpal Bill drafting committee. Armed with banners, placards, posters and flags, the supporters, after assembling at Jantar Mantar, started their march towards India Gate where a programme of songs and street...

The government is examining the possibility of turning its two important social sector programmes into universal schemes covering the unorganised sector in phases, taking a cue from the successful extension of a health insurance plan to 23 million poor families. The labour ministry will prepare a feasibility plan together with the rural and finance ministries that run the old age pension scheme for the below poverty line people and the Aam...

A LEAFY VILLAGE in Kerala, Pathanpara, never found access to India’s electricity grid. That is why for the last several years, this village has been generating its own electricity. Raju, a dhoti-clad cashew nut farmer, operates Pathanpara’s five kilowatt (KW) micro hydropower plant. He lives in the village and earns a salary of Rs 2,250, paid by the People’s Electricity Committee (PEC). The power generated is shared equally by the village,...

Every time the three irrigation canals of Prakasam Barrage, which pass through the city, are closed for the summer, the endangered species of pig-nosed turtles become easy prey. Though they are well-camouflaged in the slush and mud of the canal bed, poachers know where to look for them. Armed with a stick or rod, they keep poking until they hit the turtle's hard shell. Gaddam Yesu, who is still in his teens,...