-The Times of India India and her neighbors are going through a tortuous process of urbanization - slow, messy and partly hidden. This is seen in severe problems of livability and congestion, making cities unattractive for rural migrants. As a result, whatever benefits urban agglomerations could have offered in terms of economic advance are getting diluted. This is the dire analysis of a 200-page World Bank report on urbanization in South...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The latest World Bank report on leveraging urbanisation in South Asia has identified "air pollution" as a big challenge for major cities in the region, including Delhi.While Delhi is the worst among 381 cities from developing countries, 19 of the 20 most polluted cities are from South Asia, the report said quoting the recent findings of World Health Organisation report on ambient air pollution. The report...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Despite liberalization of the insurance sector, only around 21.6 crore people - less than one-fifth of India's population - are covered under health insurance. Even among those who have some form of coverage, 67% are covered by public insurance companies, according to National Health Profile 2015, compiled by the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence. The report, which has a separate chapter on health financing, shows despite...

-The Hindu Just over one in 10 adults received training: survey The Modi government will have its work cut out on skill development; just over one in 10 adults reported having received any vocational training, according to new official data, and the bulk of it was informal. The National Sample Survey Office on Tuesday released data from its 2011-12 round on education and vocational training. The numbers show that among persons in the...

-Deccan Herald Twenty years, 35 villages and over 10 lakh surviving trees. Harshavardhan Sheelavant narrates a community initiative in Dharwad district that has converted hundreds of acres of fallow land into green orchards and transformed the lives of farmers. It was another monsoon day without rains. But the dry spell didn’t quench the spirit of residents of Belligatti village in Dharwad district who assembled near a small hillock on the outskirts of...