-The Hindu While hypertension and cardiovascular disease are significantly associated with increased risk of renal failure deaths, diabetes is the leading factor Deaths from renal failure among Indian adults now outstrip deaths from HIV/AIDS, signalling a major shift in causes of mortality in the country over the past decade — away from infectious disease causes to non-communicable disease causes. These are the results of a study published recently in The Lancet. As per...

-PTI NEW DELHI: Seeking to stem the flow of black money in polls, the Election Commission has urged the government to amend laws to ban anonymous contributions of Rs 2,000 and above made to political parties. There is no constitutional or statutory prohibition on receipt of anonymous donations by political parties. But there is an "indirect partial ban" on anonymous donations THRough the requirement of declaration of donations under section 29C of...

-The Hindu One of the first things to get affected during natural disasters and accidents is the communication network. In a country where over a billion use mobile phones, providing mobile connectivity during a disaster, at least for emergency usage, is a priority. In this context, an IIT Madras team is developing a low-cost communication system that can enable rescue workers to communicate with a locally established centre and, THRough this centre,...

-Village Square The Maldharis of the vast Banni grasslands in Gujarat show how people cope with enforced change caused either by natural forces or human intervention and how vulnerability can be turned into opportunity. Banni, located along the northern border of Kachchh district in Gujarat, is a vast stretch of 3,847 sq km area of dry grasslands. Known for its pastoralist activities for centuries, the area is regarded as Asia’s largest tropical...

-The Economic Times If digital transactions could curb corruption and black money , Kenya would have be en the most transparent co untry in the world. About 75% of the adult population in Kenya uses mobile phones for payments and money transfer. The value of mobile money transactions and transfers per day is equal to 4.5% of annualised GDP of Kenya, as per a report published in an International Monetary Fund...