-The Hindu The rate of handwashing shot up from just one per cent to 37 per cent in just six months One of effective public health interventions and the most elementary hygiene ritual - washing hands - can help prevent diarrhoea that annually kills 8,00,000 children aged below five years. Yet, surveys show that handwashing remains at best "suboptimal" across the world, whether in India, Ghana, China - or even in parts...

-The Hindu In the case of technologies with benefits and risks, it is important to have regulatory mechanisms which can help analyse them in an impartial manner It is 61 years since the beginning of new genetics based on the discovery of the double helix structure of the DNA molecule. It is also 31 years since the production of transgenic plants. The first patent for a living organism went to Dr. Anand...

-Outlook Raipur: The CAG has indicted the Chhattisgarh government for diverting around 10 lakh tonnes of foodgrains from the central scheme to the state's Mukhyamantri Khadyan Sahayata Yojna without permission and in violation of Centre's instructions. CAG report on the Public Sector Undertakings for the year ended March 2013, was tabled in the state assembly here today. "At the direction of the Government of Chhattisgarh, the State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited (company) diverted...

-The Hindu In formulating the most effective and inclusive procedures for pre-legislative consultation, the Central government should study and draw inspiration from Kerala's example We should all celebrate the recent decision taken by a Cabinet Secretary-led committee which seeks to institutionalise public participation in the law-making process. The decision requires every Central government department to publicise the details of a proposed legislation on the Internet and other media before being introduced in...

-The Business Standard It is an inconvenient truth that the poorest people in India live in the country's richest forests. The management of this green wealth has not brought any benefits to the locals Forests have been blacked out in the economic assessment of the country. The Economic Survey does not even list forestry as a sector, for which accounts are prepared. Instead, it is lumped together with agriculture and fisheries. In...