-The Economic Times   China has outperformed India in tackling the "double-burden" of diseases that includes infectious diseases affecting the poor on the one hand and chronic lifestyle ailments typical of fast urbanisation on the other, a WHO report has said. While India's life expectancy has shot up to 65 years in 2009, up from 61 years in 2000, China has improved the same to 74 years during the last 10 years. Besides,...

TARN TARAN, India—India's northern state of Punjab was once a symbol of the nation's economic progress, its advances in agriculture lauded world-wide as a spectacular feat that made India self-sufficient in food production. But Punjab today faces a grave economic crisis, the result of years of shoddy governance that have stunted growth and created such a mound of public debt that the state is now seeking a multibillion dollar bailout from...

-The Economic Times   India's grain bins are overflowing and the forecast for a normal monsoon promises another bumper crop, but political disagreement over a bill to secure food rights for the poor means the country is expected to steer clear of large-scale exports. Shipments from the world's second-biggest producer of wheat, sugar and rice could come as a relief for governments across Asia who are trying to combat food-led inflation,...

Participants at a United Nations summit today outlined a 10-year plan to support the world’s most vulnerable countries overcome poverty, calling on the private sector to play a greater role in the fight, urging wealthy nations to step up their aid commitments and demanding the elimination of many trade barriers. The Istanbul Programme of Action to spur development and economic growth was made public at the end of the Fourth UN...

Plants used to remove hazardous waste ‘It's one of the most cost-effective methods' Rs. 20 crore to be spent on bio-remediation projects this year When the government's oversight panel meets in Bhopal on May 25 to examine various options to dispose of the 350 tonnes of toxic waste lying at the Union Carbide plant, and the million tonnes of contaminated soil at the site of the 1984 gas leak disaster, the novel idea...