Even as the world welcomed the seven billionth member of the global population this week, medical researchers warned that rapid-growth economies such as India still had a high proportion of morbidity, with more than 290 million Indians suffering from Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). In an article ‘A disproportionate burden of NTDs found in India and South Asia,' tropical diseases scientists said though India and South Asia had made significant economic progress,...

-The Hindustan Times   Where was the seventh billionth baby born on Monday? While Uttar Pradesh seems to have been the destination of choice for the new arrival into this world, the Philippines also staked a claim. Notwithsta-nding the celebrations, there are enough reasons to worry because a growing population means more pressure on the world's stretched resources. For India and its galloping population, the future is much more challenging: while we...

Climate change negotiations are with us again, this time in Durban following the high-level meetings in Cancun (2010) and Copenhagen (2009). The aim is to agree on a regime to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (particularly CO2) post-2012, when the present commitments under the Kyoto Protocol run out. Climate change and global warming are important issues for India. Agriculture, which provides a livelihood for two-thirds of our population, is heavily dependent on...

-The Telegraph   Calcutta is among six cities worldwide at “extreme risk” of facing natural hazards of climate change, including the impacts of sea level rise, but with a poor capacity to respond, says a report released today. The report on climate change vulnerability from Maplecroft, a private UK-based risk analysis company, also predicts that Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi are among 10 cities across the world that face a “high risk” of the...

-The Indian Express   The world's population will reach 7 billion in five days, the UN has said as it urged the global community to seize the opportunity and invest in health and education of its youth. Actions taken now will decide whether the future will be healthy, sustainable and prosperous or marked by inequalities, environmental decline and economic setbacks, a United Nations report has said. "The world must seize the opportunity to invest...