-The Hindu Activists attribute trend to improved functioning of service. New official data show that the proportion of Indian households using the Public Distribution System has nearly doubled over seven years. These households are relying more on the PDS and less on open market sources than before. The National Sample Survey Organisation’s report on the ‘Public Distribution System and Other Sources of Household Consumption’ was released last week and looks at findings from...

-The Economist Wealth and child welfare are sensitive topics in India. As the country has grown richer in the past couple of decades, Indians’ health has improved only slowly. The story has varied widely from state to state. Governments of southern ones like Kerala and Tamil Nadu do a lot to help women and children; health indicators there show steady gains. In the north and west, even in better-off states, nutrition,...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Delhi remains behind states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu in key health indicators, such as the infant mortality rate (IMR). The Economic Survey report 2014-15 shows that 22 of every 1,000 children born in the city in 2013 (the latest available data) died within a year of birth. The number of children dying within 29 days of birth—also called neonatal mortality rate (NMR)— stood at 15...

-The Indian Express According to government data, percentage of households without toilets in Odisha is an alarming 88 per cent. Odisha and Bihar, two states which have consistently demanded a special category status from the Centre on account of being backward, figure among the worst states in India when it comes to household toilets. According to the Baseline Survey – 2012 report of the Swachh Bharat Mission under the aegis of the Ministry...

  If environmental degradation disturbs you and you are averse to reading technical manuals and copious volumes on the subject, there is some good news for you.    A recently published book from Gene Campaign entitled Coping with Climate Change is doing the rounds among environmentalists, civil society activists, public servants and researchers. Edited by Dr. Suman Sahai, the book has been written in a coffee book style to make easy serious...