There is every sign that India is launching into a period of rapid urbanisation. In the next 30 years, an additional 350 million people will have to be accommodated in our existing towns as well as in brand new urban spaces. Given our inability to cater to even the existing urban population, there are serious concerns about our ability to deal with the influx. Are we entering a world of...

Without crop varieties adapting to extremes of weather, feeding world population will be difficult Shortage of water resources will be one of the greatest problems NEW DELHI: “The threat of climate change and its impact on agriculture is real. We have evidence that by 2025 in some parts of the world including India, parts of Asia and parts of Africa, crop yields will drop from anything between 20 and 40 per cent...

Non-governmental organizations are making a difference to the lives of poor and marginalized people in India. Most work in geographically limited areas. They are idealistic and want change, and hope to enter the lives of those they work with. Funding agencies and NGOs are enthused by any sign of change in the long-failed state of Bihar. A virulent and discriminatory caste system that deprives the lower castes even of government-funded...

Twenty-five children died in two villages of Jhabua district in October  Malnutrition, especially among tribals here, is much higher than in sub-Saharan Africa: Report ‘Children appear extremely weak, show malaria and dengue like symptoms and die within 4 days’ JHABUA (M.P.): Malnutrition has reached epidemic proportions in most parts of Madhya Pradesh, with children being the most vulnerable group. This, along with a general deterioration in the health conditions of children and...

An open collision of ideas about global warming at the release of the UNFPA report, “The State of World Population 2009” has generated enough heat to raise the tempers. (See the report’s URL below) While the Minister of Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh, who released the report in New Delhi, agreed that the women of the world would be forced to bear the disproportionate burden of climate change, he questioned...