Managing our soil and water resources in a sustainable and equitable manner needs a new political vision, which can be expressed through the proposed Land Acquisition Bill and the recently formed Global Soil Partnership. On the basis of a proposal I had made three years ago, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) launched a Global Soil Partnership for Food Security and Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation at a multi-stakeholder conference, held...

-The United Nations   Global malaria deaths have dropped by about 38 per cent over the past decade, saving the lives of more than one million people, mostly children, through the efforts of a United Nations-led global partnership that put emphasis on prevention and treatment, particularly the use of insecticide-treated nets, according to a report unveiled today. Some 43 countries, 11 of them in Africa, have seen malaria cases or deaths drop by...

-The Hindu   India ranks very high among the nations struck by the rising wave of “premature deaths” caused by non-communicable diseases, mainly heart and blood ailments, the WHO said in its latest report on Wednesday. The report said that cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory problems, blood pressure and diabetes are an offshoot of growing affluence of the middle classes as well as worsening health conditions among people below poverty line. “Exposure to the...

-The Economic Times   Development and land rights are the new weapons in the government's war against Naxals. To forge an effective response, the rural development ministry is consulting the collectors of the 60 Left-wing extremism (LWE)-affected districts at a day-long meeting in the Capital on Tuesday. In the past, development programmes have failed to take into account the ground realities in these districts. This has contributed to ineffective programme implementation in these...

-The Indian Express   With UPA constituent Trinamool Congress today joining the Opposition in critising the Communal Violence Bill, the Union government said that the legislation as drafted by the National Advisory Council (NAC) was not final. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was among the eight CMs who stayed away from the National Integration Council (NIC) meeting held in Delhi today, with communal violence on its agenda. Narendra Modi (Gujarat), Nitish Kumar...