Although the focus of erstwhile UPA and the present NDA government has been to achieve higher economic growth by reaping the 'demographic dividend', a recent report from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) informs us that a substantial chunk of the population underwent ageing during the last 60 years. The report entitled Elderly in India: Profile and Programmes 2016 from CSO (that comes under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation) shows...

-Hindustan Times India’s sugar and cotton output is showing signs of falling for the first time in five years and insufficient pulses production could keep prices high, early estimates showed in the midst of a crippling drought across a vast swathe of the country. However, the country will still have a surplus of cereals despite back-to-back drought trimming overall foodgrains output from normal-year levels. Sugar output is projected to fall between 8% and...

-Livemint.com Panel aims to find ways to diversify risks in farming, examine how integrated farming can boost incomes New Delhi: The central government has set up a panel to suggest ways to double farm incomes by 2022, as promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The task of the inter-ministerial committee will prepare a blueprint to transition farm policies from being production oriented to based on incomes or value addition. The committee will look...

-The Hindu Jharkhand has lowest percentage of households with toilets while Sikkim has the most More than half the rural population of the country still opts for open defecation, says the recently released Swachhta Status Report by the National Sample Survey (NSS) Office. The nation-wide rapid survey was conducted during May-June 2015, concurrently with the 72nd round of the NSS. The survey was to track the government’s flagship programme, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan....

-The Hindu Septicemia (or, sepsis) is the leading cause for deaths in hospitals worldwide. A novel, simple, low-cost device that quickly diagnoses septicaemia at bedside has been developed by an IIT Delhi researcher working along with a Consultant from Global Medical Education and Research Foundation, Hyderabad. Septicemia (or, sepsis) is the leading cause for deaths in hospitals worldwide. According to a paper published in October 2015 in the journal Analytical Chemistry, there are...