It is official: India has the world's most toxic air. In a new study by Yale and Columbia universities, India holds the very last rank among 132 nations in terms of air quality with regard to its effect on human health. India scored a minuscule 3.73 out of a possible 100 points in the analysis, lagging far behind the next worst performer, Bangladesh, which scored 13.66. In fact, the entire South Asian...

Health ministry deputes team to Mumbai; says neither WHO nor tuberculosis control programme recognise TDR-TB The Union ministry of health has denied the presence of totally drug resistant tuberculosis (TDR-TB) reported in Mumbai. Researchers at the Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai documented the presence of this strain of TB in India for the first time in the December 21, 2011 edition of the journal, Clinical Infectious Diseases. Patients suffering from it are...

It has to be but a means to development, not an end in itself Is India doing marvellously well, or is it failing terribly? Depending on whom you speak to, you could pick up either of those answers with some frequency. One story, very popular among a minority but a large enough group—of Indians who are doing very well (and among the media that cater largely to them)—runs something like...

Water, the most vital of all resources, has emerged as a key issue that would determine if Asia is headed toward cooperation or competition. After all, the driest continent in the world is not Africa but Asia, where availability of freshwater is not even half the global annual average of 6,380 cubic metres per inhabitant. When the estimated reserves of rivers, lakes, and aquifers are added up, Asia has less than...

-The Times of India   For all those already reeling under a series of hikes in petrol prices on the back of zooming inflation, here is some news that will enrage you further. Data of retail prices in countries across the world shows that Indian prices are amongst the highest in the world at current exchange rates. And, if you even out the differences in purchasing power of different currencies then Indian...