Delhi NGOs initiate a process to survey the city's homeless people and reach welfare schemes to them. IN the narrow lanes of Khari Baoli, Asia's largest wholesale spice and grocery market in the crowded Old Delhi area near the Red Fort, labourers grapple with heavy sacks of grain, pulses, and so on as they load them on to wooden trolleys or unload them from trucks. There is no room for...

India's hurried quest for development and its disregard for road safety have resulted in a major public health problem that demands serious thought and action. The high mortality and morbidity associated with road traffic injuries are a major public health challenge worldwide. Every year, road traffic crashes kill an estimated 1.2 million people. The figure for the injured is over 50 million. Significant increases in these estimates are projected over the...

Technological interventions, innovative and fool-proof delivery mechanisms, constant reviews and fixing responsibility at each level ensure that an effective delivery system is in place. The Public Distribution System in Tamil Nadu is a success story, in its coverage as well as its pricing. Each family, whether below the poverty line or not, is entitled to 20 kg of rice at Re. 1 a kg. The State Government opted for universal coverage...

India lives in its villages, Gandhi said. But increasingly, the people of India are dying on its roads. India overtook China to top the world in road fatalities in 2006 and has continued to pull steadily ahead, despite a heavily agrarian population, fewer people than China and far fewer cars than many Western countries. While road deaths in many other big emerging markets have declined or stabilized in recent years,...

From Bihar to America, via rickshaw. That’s the feat Irfan Alam has pulled off, winning an invite from President Barack Obama for his work with rickshaw-pullers and proving that Lalu Prasad isn’t the only Bihari worth a toast for his business acumen. The 35-year-old IIM Ahmedabad graduate, who has redesigned and smartened up rickshaws and helped boost the pullers’ earnings and dignity, is one of 79 “unique” entrepreneurs from across the world...