-The Business Standard   International organisations recognise the impending shortage of potable water but their approach is entirely wrong During this year's gathering in Davos, the World Economic Forum released its ninth annual Global Risks report, which relies on a survey of more than 700 business leaders, government officials and non-profit actors to identify the world's most serious risks in the next decade. Perhaps most remarkably, four of the 10 threats listed this...

-The Economic Times In January 2012, PM Manmohan Singh declared half of India's children were malnourished and that was a national shame. Yet since then, not a single comprehensive national survey was conducted to determine the acuteness of the problem or measure progress, if any, of steps initiated to address malnutrition. Worse, the issue figures in a token manner in the election discourse of political parties and candidates. The 2005-06 National...

-The Times of India Elections, it is said, are about spending big. This despite repeated poll panel efforts to curb candidate expenses. The EC rule book is clear: Each candidate is entitled to spend a maximum of Rs 70 lakh and it is mandatory for the nominee to file daily expenses. On the ground, a different story plays out and contestants find ways to beat the book. Politicians begin spending the day...

-The Hindustan Times While BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's 'Gujarat development model' has caught the nation's fancy, a new United Nations (UN) report says Gujarat is one of the most water-starved states in India. The UN World Water Development Report 2014 observes that unsustainable use of water for agriculture is the prime reason for the groundwater level falling in most parts of Gujarat. "The issue of groundwater overdraft in India has been...

-The Business Standard   No state has met the basic RTE norms of trained teachers, infrastructure needs or pupil-teacher ratio On April 1, the Right to Free and Compulsory Education of Children (RTE) will turn four. The landmark law enacted by the United Progressive Alliance in 2009 was yet another entitlement to deliver free compulsory education to all children between the ages of 6 and 14. Till date, no state has met the...