A new campaign to create awareness about maternal mortality in India has been launched. Campaigners say that 78% of maternal deaths are avoidable. An Indian woman dies every seven minutes during pregnancy or childbirth. "Play Your Part" aims to bring the families and communities together to stop 65,000 maternal deaths every year. Campaigners say a lack of health facilities coupled with the lower social status of the women affected are to...

* Main aim is to create asingle-window clearing-house for GM foods/crops * Planned regulatory authority to have overarching powers over state governments, existing laws * No room for farmers or civil society in approval process * Penal action for raising objection without scientific evidence * No independent risk assessment of data submitted to the authority * No provision for revoking approvals, inadequate liability clause * No informed choice for consumers...

India, the world’s second most populous country, announced today that it is coming on board the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) campaign to cover the world with billions of trees, pushing the total number planted so far to more than 10 billion since the movement started in 2006. The South Asian nation is one of the fastest-growing economies in the region and is among the world’s largest consumers of wood products....

A recent survey carried out by the TNUEF brings to light details of the discrimination Dalits in Madurai have faced for generations. OVER seven decades have rolled by since the freedom fighter A. Vaidhyanatha Iyer successfully led Dalits into the Meenakshi temple in Madurai, overcoming all the impediments posed by the casteist forces that were hell-bent on thwarting the historic event. But the stark reality is that “hidden apartheid” against...

Agriculture scientist and Rajya Sabha member M.S. Swaminathan on Tuesday described the government’s moratorium on commercialisation of Mahyco’s Bt brinjal until independent studies established its safety, as “a wise and appropriate decision.” He said it was appropriate not to hurry and to look at the problems to the satisfaction of all. The government should utilise the time to put in place a credible, effective and transparent system for the benefit of...