-Down to Earth Going by current trends, the target for reducing infant mortality and improving other human development indices seem near impossible to achieve Less that 500 days are left for nations to achieve the targets set under the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); there are eight such goals which range from halving extreme poverty rates to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education. The countdown for the deadline...

-The Week Manorama Online Broken hearts float down the Bhakra Main Line canal. Broken by the endless struggle with the land, with the weather, with the creditor. Broken by broken promises, broken by the honour they lost, broken enough to kill themselves. And, at the sluice gate at Khanauri village they slow down, looking up with unseeing eyes. And, from the bridge across the canal, the beating hearts they broke look...

-The Business Standard In a country where 35 to 40 per cent of food is not consumed, the government urgently needs to reduce wastage to an acceptable level By current estimates, India's total population will be similar to China's by 2028, 1.45 billion. By 2050, India's population is expected to reach 1.7 billion, which will then be equivalent to nearly that of China and the US combined. A fundamental question then...

-The Business Standard A delayed monsoon and abundant cotton in the international market could spell trouble in the state's suicide zone Yavatmal (Maharashtra): As the skies stayed clear till the second week of June, Ramesh Gulabhrao Digde's mood darkened. His two acres were ploughed at great expense, the seeds were purchased, and a sack of fertilisers lay in a corner of his thatch-roofed hut in Parsodi village in western Maharashtra's Yavatmal...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Fewer Indians might be dying from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, but it is estimated that almost 5.5 lakh non-HIV positive people died of TB last year, making it the biggest killer among the three. Malaria is estimated to have killed about 1.2 lakh people out of over 6 crore cases recorded last year. Though India's fight against HIV/AIDS is said to have made progress, the disease...