-The Hindu Kerala needs to adopt watershed-based master planning and review building byelaws The unique geography of Kerala, with its steep climbdown from 900m high elevations of the Western Ghats to the coast of Malabar, has resulted in a land with a vast riverine network. There are no less than 44 fast flowing rivers that drain the rainwater Kerala is blessed with into the Arabian Sea. It is a lifeline that supports...

-The Hindu Where does Jammu and Kashmir stand in comparison to other States in key indicators of growth and development Union Home Minister Amit Shah has linked poor healthcare, poverty, lack of doctors and slow economic growth in Jammu and Kashmir to amendment to Article 370. However, a look at how the State, now bifurcated into Union Territories, compares with other States in key indicators suggests that these concerns are exaggerated. Life expectancy Jammu...

-The Hindu The figure quoted by the government fails to completely take into consideration deliveries in private hospitals. Female foeticide continues to increase at an alarming rate, as per the Sample Registration System (SRS) data released in July for the period 2015-2017. The sex ratio at birth (SRB) has been dropping continuously since Census 2011, coming down from 909 girls per thousand boys in 2011-2013 to 896 girls in 2015-2017, to quote...

-Newsclick.in The state would promote collective farming which is done by various co-operatives and community networks like Kudumbashree. Pointing towards Contract Farming, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, in conference of State Agriculture Ministers in Delhi, has said that farming can become profitable if small and marginal farmers are given access to technological solutions and research. However, the Agriculture Minister of Kerala, VS Sunil Kumar opposed government’s plan to accelerate Contract Farming...

-The Telegraph The findings suggest that health parameters in poorest-performing states have deteriorated over the two-year period Measures of human health have fallen in eight states, including Bengal, with the steepest incremental drops over a two-year period in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, according to a health index released on Tuesday by Niti Aayog, the government’s think tank.   The index — a tool to assess states’ performance on 23 measures of health care...