-The Times of India     NEW DELHI: Latest statistical research finds strong causal links between areas with the most suicides and areas where impoverished farmers are trying to grow crops that suffer from wild price fluctuations due to India's relatively recent shift to free market economics. A new study has found that India's shocking rates of suicide are highest in areas with the most debt-ridden farmers who are clinging to tiny smallholdings...

-The United Nations To mark World Water Day, the United Nations is highlighting the key role that water and energy play in economic development and the eradication of poverty worldwide, and calling for strong measures to ensure their efficient and equitable use. In his message for the Day, focused this year on the interdependence between the management of water and energy, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that "they interact with each other...

-The Hindu Talking openly about menstruation is the only way to transform the lives of girls and women. Barriers to women's achievement are falling in every sphere. Women lead countries, corporations, and households. Globally, more girls are entering school, earning family income, and participating in public life. But one big taboo stands in the way of women's full equality: safe, hygienic and private menstruation. For most women in wealthy countries, menstruation is...

-Mumbai Mirror Instead of selling highly subsidised rice and wheat, we need to get food into hungry stomachs. The level of development of a country can be measured in many different ways. You could use average income of every person (i.e. GDP divided by population), or you can use average spending. You can count the number of millionaires or billionaires. You can count number of mobile connections, or cars on the road....

Until recently it had been an enigma for health practitioners to understand why people do not wash their hands before dinner or after defecation despite knowing the health hazards or benefits associated with it. An experimental study conducted in 14 villages in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh shows that emotional campaigns can work wonders and decisively change behaviours. The study was conducted between May 24, 2011, and September 10, 2012...