Why women in Punjab villages shy away from offering their super-nutritious panjiri to guests from abroad, and instead offer them chips and coke? And, is there any connection between panjiri and failure of the Punjab farmers to save their own traditional (sustainable) seeds in favour of hybrids or new varieties dished out by PAU or private companies? 'There is a deep connection between the two,' says Arshinder Kaur, India coordinator for international...

More than 90 Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh have been rescued by police from a boat drifting in India's Andaman and Nicobar archipelago area. All of them were starving and seriously dehydrated, police said; 25 have been admitted to hospital. Doctors at the hospital said they had been on the high seas without food and water for more than a week. The migrants said they were set adrift in an engine-less boat on the...

After Right to Food, the Supreme Court has taken up the issue of Right to Education to ensure that every government-run school in India has requisite  number of teachers, potable water, toilets, safe building and other such facilities for students. A bench headed by justice Dalveer Bhandari on Tuesday ordered all the district collectors and magistrates to submit  a report in this regard within four weeks to the chief secretary/ administrator...

In 2-3 years after implementation, money generation was seen Melaneelithanallur village in Tirunelveli district is bone dry most of the year. Lack of water for crops over the years turned the soil into dry wastelands, considered unfit for use. “Until a few years ago, almost all the farmers in the region wallowed in debt and poverty. Many households lacked even proper metal utensils for cooking as the inhabitants used to pawn...

Is gulping down litres of carbonated soft drinks harming your health? We will soon know. The Union health ministry on February 7 informed the Supreme Court that a definitive study is now being undertaken by the National Institute of Nutrition ( Hyderabad) "to assess the effects of consumption of carbonated water beverages and soft drinks on health of adolescents and young adults". The final report of the study is expected to...