-The Hindu The National Food Security Ordinance, which President Pranab Mukherjee signed into law last week, has been touted as especially attentive to the needs of women and children. A closer inspection of the Ordinance, however, suggests otherwise - its provisions in fact ignore the distinct socio-economic roles of women and children in society. Moreover, the Ordinance glosses over entire subsets of women and children, including those who are arguably the...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: At a time when many of India's infrastructural projects are caught in the throes of an environment versus development conundrum, a new report released by the World Bank estimates that environmental degradation is costing India around 5.7% of its GDP every year. The report, "Diagnostic Assessment of Select Environmental Challenges in India" is the bank's first national economic assessment of environment-related degradation in India. It analysed the...

-The Hindu     The State population stands at a little over three crore, but average consumption of drugs is three times the national average In Kerala, where people have a marked preference for branded drugs, where the most expensive brand is considered the best, and only those brands pushed by doctors sell, the new Drug (Prices Control) Order, which is expected to cut prices by 20-25 per cent, may not have much of...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The World Health Organisation wants India's public to give up Bollywood songs as caller tunes on their mobile phones and replace them with short health messages from superstars of India's entertainment industry. The global health agency today launched what is being dubbed as the world's first attempt to promote health campaigns via caller tunes, drawing on the voices of 10 personalities from Bollywood and other entertainment sectors. Amitabh Bachchan's...

-The United Nations United Nations officials marked World Population Day today by spotlighting the issue of adolescent pregnancy, and calling on Governments to take measures to enable girls to make responsible life choices and realize their potential. About 16 million girls under age 18 give birth each year, according to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), which noted that another 3.2 million undergo unsafe abortions. The vast majority - 90 per cent - of...