The global economic crisis has wiped out developing Asia's recent gains in poverty eradication as the meltdown is expected to have driven 21 million more people in the region into poverty. A joint report by the United Nations and the Asian Development Bank shows that the global economic slowdown has slackened trade, slashed export and tourism receipts and raised unemployment levels. This makes it difficult for the region to achieve its...

If we can have a nuclear submarine programme, a space missile programme, cricket sponsorship programme by individuals like Sharukh Khan, why can’t we have a programme to save rotting paddy lying across the country,” says Dr MS Swaminathan highlighting the parody that India’s is currently facing. In Ludhiana to address the convocation of Punjab Agriculture University the scientist and Member of Parliament speaks to ET highlighting that the future belongs...

A recent survey carried out by the TNUEF brings to light details of the discrimination Dalits in Madurai have faced for generations. OVER seven decades have rolled by since the freedom fighter A. Vaidhyanatha Iyer successfully led Dalits into the Meenakshi temple in Madurai, overcoming all the impediments posed by the casteist forces that were hell-bent on thwarting the historic event. But the stark reality is that “hidden apartheid” against...

All the judges of the Delhi High Court led by Chief Justice A. P. Shah on Friday made their assets and investments public by uploading the details on the Court’s website. Before these details were uploaded, each judge submitted the details of his or her assets to the Chief Justice. The asset details include properties in the judge’s name or in the name of his/her spouse or his/her dependant family members. A...

A state government scheme to pay for hospital treatment of the poor has led to an organ racket, with many private hospitals duping illiterate young women and removing their uterus for illegal sale, a minister has acknowledged. Altogether 21,000 hysterectomies (uterus removals) have been done across Andhra Pradesh under the Rajiv Arogyasree health insurance scheme since it was launched in 2007 for below-poverty-line (BPL) families, a health directorate probe has shown. Most...