-Frontline There are no effective vaccines against Japanese encephalitis, but its spread can be controlled in India through vector management.  JAPANESE ENCEPHALITIS, or JE, has become endemic in many parts of the country, occurring repeatedly in epidemic form in many of them—for instance, in parts of Gorakhpur in northern Uttar Pradesh. One can expect JE-type epidemics year after year in States where prolonged drought-like conditions are followed by heavy monsoons. This leads to...

-Outlook An Odisha minister today dubbed as impractical direct electronic cash Transfer of subsidies to beneficiaries in backward regions. "How can it be possible when a large number of people in Odisha do not have bank accounts?" Odisha's Food minister P K Deb questioned. "The basic objective of the public distribution system to arrest hunger among the poor will be defeated if the beneficiaries are provided cash instead of cheap food," the minister...

-The Times of India The cost of air-conditioners and refrigerators could go up considerably starting next summer if the US and other rich countries force a decision at the UN climate talks in November at Doha, to order a global ban on existing refrigerant gases and replace them with costly though relatively more climate-friendly alternatives. One of the alternatives being proposed is produced jointly by DuPont and Honeywell, two US-based multinationals, and...

-The Hindu Kerala’s Kudumbashree network and the rural employment guarantee scheme have converged to provide a unique model of empowerment An incredible story of empowerment has been unfolding in the wake of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) programme in the State of Kerala. This is the story of how a socially engineered convergence of the scheme with panchayati raj institutions and the State sponsored community network of poor...

-The Hindustan Times Finance minister P Chidambaram’s grand plan to redefine how the Centre spends its funds through state governments is facing stiff opposition from within, pushing the Planning Commission to seek the cabinet’s views on the proposal. The Centre disburses billions of rupees to states for achieving national developmental goals, but its effective use remains an area of concern. Though the Planning Commission had suggested reforms, Chidambaram — in a...