-The Times of India MUMBAI: The government has banned three popular medicines-the widely prescribed anti-diabetes drug pioglitazone, painkiller analgin and anti-depressant deanxit-in the wake of health risks associated with them. While it's believed that pioglitazone can cause heart failure and increases the risk of bladder cancer, analgin has been discarded the world over on grounds of patient safety. Deanxit, on the other hand is a harmful combination, which has been long...

Groundwater, which irrigates half of Indian agriculture and provides 85% of rural drinking consumption, is an increasingly scarce resource. There is a growing understanding that it must be approached as a common property resource for collective benefit. It is best understood and managed by those who live near them and use them rather than agencies who visit sporadically - that is the central premise of efforts around participatory groundwater management....

-Down to Earth   Total consumer expenditure on processed foods, beverages, and refreshments level has increased Indians are eating badly; and the trend is getting worse each year. Data from the 68th round of the National Sample Survey (NSS) shows that the share of food in total expenditure has reduced both in rural and urban areas. This is despite the fact that food is getting progressively more expensive. Spending more on unhealthy foods Amongst the...

-The Hindu Whichever way one looks at the data, there is nothing much to crow about the 68th round of survey Whichever way one looks at the key indicators of employment and unemployment released by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) recently, there is nothing much to crow about in inferences that can be drawn from the Data collected in the 68th round of survey conducted during the period July 2011 to...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: A study commissioned by the Planning Commission to validate the growth estimates of the Twelfth Five-Year Plan has thrown up a rather depressing outlook for the economy, sending alarm bells ringing in the government. An independent think tank, the National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER), has pegged average annual growth for the Twelfth Plan at a mere 4.8%, if the present logjam in policymaking continues. The NCAER...