-Live Mint The right to food campaigner talks about the importance of the Bill in an interview The National Food Security Bill (NFSB) is just a signature away from becoming law after being passed by the Rajya Sabha on Monday. It was passed by the Lok Sabha on 26 August and needs the President's signature to be enacted. Critics have dismissed the proposed legislation as a drain on India's resources. Dipa Sinha,...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Water scarcity is fast becoming urban India's number one woe, with government's own data revealing that residents in 22 out of 32 major cities have to deal with daily shortages. The worst-hit city is Jamshedpur, where the gap between demand and supply is a yawning 70%. The crisis is acute in Kanpur, Asansol, Dhanbad, Meerut, Faridabad, Visakhapatnam, Madurai and Hyderabad - where supply fails to meet...

-The Hindu Absence of safe cycle tracks and lack of pavement networks have pushed people to motorised transport Across the world, in the wake of the fuel crisis and environmental challenges, cities are increasingly paying attention to bicycling and walking - non-motorised modes of transport (NMT). As studies show, if 5 per cent of the trips made in cities across the world shift from car to NMT, the savings in terms of...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Among children up to 15 years old, there are 1.8 crore fewer girls than boys - the sex ratio at 914 girls per 1,000 boys remaining the same as a decade ago. This is the chilling picture of the fate of girls emerging from age-wise data of India's population in 2011 released by census authorities on Friday. The data gives population for each succeeding age year,...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In another mega scheme to woo the poor, the Centre proposes to spend Rs 7,860 crore distributing 2.5 crore mobile phones and 90 lakh tablets virtually free of cost to targeted beneficiaries over the next four years starting 2014-15, in the name of bridging the digital divide in the country. The mobile phones will come bundled with free connection charges for two years. The user, who...