-Hindustan Times Paris air is about five times lesser toxic than what it is in Delhi yet the authorities in the French Capital have a better plan to deal with the problem. By 2020, Paris will have no diesel car running on its streets and they will be replaced by vehicles running on cleaner fuels like on Hydrogen, natural gas and no emission electric or hybrid cars. “We have a plan in...

Gujarat, which is hailed as a role model of growth and development, witnessed the lowest calorie intake per person per day in rural areas among the 17 major states of India during 2011-12. This has been revealed by the 68th round National Sample Survey report entitled Nutritional Intake in India 2011-12 (See chart 1). It can be inferred from the NSSO report that except Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan, the daily...

-Hindustan Times The Union cabinet on Wednesday approved “Housing for All”, the NDA government’s flagship programme of building two crore houses by 2022. The scheme is piloted by the housing and urban poverty alleviation ministry. Aiming to promote affordable housing, the cabinet approved a substantial increase in interest subsidy on housing loans — from 4% to 6.50% — for those from the economically weaker sections (EWS) and low-income groups (LIG). This would...

-Tehelka The country has egg on its face but not in its diet, as the Global Hunger Index reveals acute malnutrition Swachh Bharat Mission, if implemented in a holistic fashion, holds the key to curbing not only the problem of diarrhoeal deaths for which India holds the world record, but also malnutrition. However, the World Toilet Summit, which was held in the national capital this year as part of the Mission, was...

-Economic and Political Weekly A categorical distinction is facing rough weather--that between urban and rural. If we take just agriculture, there is so much of the outside world that comes in not just as external markets but as external inputs. Further, many of our villages barely qualify as rural if we were to take occupation alone. So the earlier line that separated the farmer from the worker in towns is slowly...