-The Indian Express India does need these toilets badly. Over half a billion people practice open defecation, the highest number in the world. The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA) has a target of 12 crore toilets by October 2019. That makes for 2,739 toilets a day, almost two toilets every second! Work on the toilets is on track. In fact, reports show that the targets are being surpassed. In 2014-15, the very first...

-The Hindu The Longitudinal Ageing Study of India is to follow the health and socio-economic condition of 60,000 Indians over the age of 45 for at least 25 years and report on how growing old affects the country Half of India’s over 1.2 billion population is 25 years or younger, with only about nine per cent over 60 years. Over the next three decades this is expected to balloon to 20 per...

-Business Standard Digitisation of supply chain for BPL beneficiaries can save Rs 1,080 crore a year but much needs to be done to plug leakages Hyderabad: In this state of information technology professionals, now even a village woman knows how the malfunctioning server in Hyderabad can affect the delivery of subsidised foodgrain to her. Technical snags can make the queues longer at fair price shops in Andhra Pradesh, even a year after the...

-The Hindu More than a year after 13 women died in a mass sterilisation camp in Chhattisgarh, it is far from clear whether lessons have been learnt or justice done Sixteen months after a mass sterilisation camp conducted by the government of Chhattisgarh resulted in 13 deaths and 65 injuries, viscera reports — from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Ramanthapur, Hyderabad, and from the Central Drugs Laboratory, Kolkata, to go with...

-The Indian Express Disaster-conscious planning as part of the urban agenda is helping India better prepare for natural calamities. Chennai 2015, Srinagar 2014, Uttarakhand 2013, Mumbai 2005. These disastrous floods remind us that without proper planning, unusually heavy rains in densely populated areas can brew a deadly cocktail for disaster. The issue is not just India’s alone. In our rapidly urbanising world, making towns and cities safer is emerging as one...