-Press Information Bureau (Election Commission) General Elections are held to elect representatives for Lok Sabha after normally, every five years. Every election requires a huge amount of resources and efforts, be it planning, labour, technology, and for that matter, money. From the first Lok Sabha Elections in 1951-52 till the fifteenth in 2009, it has been a long journey for democracy. Government's expenditure on an elector has gone up manifold, twenty...

Until recently it had been an enigma for health practitioners to understand why people do not wash their hands before dinner or after defecation despite knowing the health hazards or benefits associated with it. An experimental study conducted in 14 villages in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh shows that emotional campaigns can work wonders and decisively change behaviours. The study was conducted between May 24, 2011, and September 10, 2012...

-Live Mint Move comes in response to direction from Court asking government to create an environment regulator New Delhi: The environment ministry has recommended the creation of an independent regulator that will evaluate projects seeking environment clearances. The approval itself will be granted by the ministry. The ministry's move comes in response to a direction from the Supreme Court on 6 January asking the government to create an environment regulator at the national...

-AgriculturesNetwork.org The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Olivier De Schutter, today calls for radical transformation of the world's food systems. The emphasis in agricultural policy should shift from productivity to "well-being, resilience and sustainability", he says. This morning De Schutter presented his final report to the UN Human Rights Council after a six-year term as Special Rapporteur. In February, he also presented some of his findings at...

-The Telegraph Even as it is busy trying to resolve other people's conflicts in so many parts of the world, the United Nations has recently created a conflict of its own. It began innocuously enough. The organization has always tried to get consensus around matters on which it is often very difficult to arrive at such consensus. The usual strategy to achieve this is to sufficiently water down the language in its...