-The Hindu Agroforestry promotes productive cropping environments, prevents deforestation, protects watersheds and enables agricultural land to withstand extreme weather events Growing trees on farms is a triple-win strategy for combating simultaneously the challenges of increasing food production, mitigating greenhouse gases and adapting to climate change. It is an instrument of Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA), catapulted to centre-stage by President Obama's launch of the Global Alliance for CSA at the World Climate Summit on...

-The Hindu A new provisional data from a survey conducted by the government and UNICEF shows The proportion of underweight children in India might have declined from 45.1 per cent in 2005-6 to a historic low of 30.7 per cent last year, new provisional data from a survey conducted by the government and UNICEF shows. Since 2005-6, there has been no new data on child and adult weights and heights, key in determining...

-The Hindu Tackling TB requires both strengthening the public sector and engaging the private sector Over 60 per cent of all Indians seek health care in the private sector according to India's last National Family Health Survey. This undoubtedly makes the private sector the largest provider of health services in India. The government health system, though vast and well-intentioned, continues to be overburdened with multiple challenges including long waiting hours, an ageing...

-The Hindu A systemic reform of the health sector in order to meet the key objectives of equity, efficiency and quality is long overdue. In this, the Central and State governments need to make interventions intelligently, decisively and strategically so that the poor reap the benefits How does Prime Minister Narendra Modi's focus on population, health and subjects like public hygiene, the facilitation of toilets and ensuring preventive health through yoga fit...

-The Indian Express The prime minister's Jan Dhan Yojana (JDY) is, in many ways, an improvement over previous financial-inclusion schemes. And with an aggressive target to cover 15 crore households with basic banking services, including an overdraft facility, debit card as well as accident and life insurance cover, it is the most ambitious attempt yet. However, to achieve its promise, the JDY needs to focus on implementation. As suggested by the...