-Deccan Herald Twenty years, 35 villages and over 10 lakh surviving trees. Harshavardhan Sheelavant narrates a community initiative in Dharwad district that has converted hundreds of acres of fallow land into green orchards and transformed the lives of farmers. It was another monsoon day without rains. But the dry spell didn’t quench the spirit of residents of Belligatti village in Dharwad district who assembled near a small hillock on the outskirts of...

-The Hindu India spends less of its GDP on health than some of the world’s poorest countries’ Every government hospital serves an estimated 61,000 people in India, with one bed for every 1833 people, new official data shows. In undivided Andhra Pradesh, every government hospital serves over 3 lakh patients while in Bihar, there is only one bed for every 8800 people. Union Minister for Health J.P. Nadda released the National Health Profile...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Air pollution may be posing a rising health risk in India as the number of cases of acute respiratory infection have risen by 5 million since 2012 even though deaths have declined in the same period, government data released on Tuesday evening show. Cases of ARI have been rising even before 2012 though deaths began to decline since that year. The government report notes the strong...

-The Times of India GURGAON: On Tuesday, Gurgaon put the brakes on cars, and accelerated into the future. It was the first instalment of the Car Free Day that the city will now observe every Tuesday starting next month. On day one itself, there were 10,000 fewer cars on the city's roads. The air, too, was much more breathable. Levels of PM 2.5 - fine pollutants emitted by vehicles - were 21...

-Deccan Herald Contrasting fortunes: One section of Maharashtra's tillers revels, one despairs Hyderabad: Millet growing villages in four mandals of Zaheerabad of Medak district have reported no farmer suicide even as the district accounted for 30 deaths every month and the state of Telangana recorded 1,400 suicides by farmers in distress. Medak district, which reported 145 deaths this year, so far reflects the hopelessness in agriculture sector.  It is indeed amazing to see...