-DNA   Academicians in Goa have voiced their concern over the education department's arbitrary decision to implement a part of Right to Education (RTE) Act 2009 in the state which asks schools for mass promotion of students from first to eighth standard. Three major bodies -- Goa Headmasters Association (GHA), Goa School Managements Association (GSMA) and Nationalist Educational Institutions Management Association (NEIMA), have said that the circular needs to be withdrawn as...

The Union Cabinet, which meets here on Thursday, will discuss a proposal to dovetail the promised caste census with the survey to identify those living below the poverty line (BPL), government sources told The Hindu. The entire exercise should be completed by the end of this year, these sources added. Dovetailing the two exercises will ensure that the castes enumerated can be correlated with the socio-economic data, and facilitate a more...

Progress has been made on key MDG health targets, but non-infectious diseases have spread to developing countries The world is experiencing a change in the geographic distribution of diseases. Traditionally, infectious diseases, which claim the lives of so many children, have affected poor countries and non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes, cardiac ailments and cancer, have plagued rich countries. But the latest statistics released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday show...

It's early morning in rural Rajasthan and the sun is already burning. Only the brave have ventured out into the harsh, radiating heat. At the dusty Kanpura village, farmers are hard at work, grading their harvest. But the dry, still air is slowing them down. For Jeevan Ram Kharol, selling his produce is the only source of income. Last year, the drought brought him no returns. Now he's hoping the harvest will...

-The Economic Times   China has outperformed India in tackling the "double-burden" of diseases that includes infectious diseases affecting the poor on the one hand and chronic lifestyle ailments typical of fast urbanisation on the other, a WHO report has said. While India's life expectancy has shot up to 65 years in 2009, up from 61 years in 2000, China has improved the same to 74 years during the last 10 years. Besides,...