A survey of 71 cities across the country conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has shown that officially 82 per cent of all the water that municipalities of these cities supply comes from surface water resources, and the rest comes from groundwater resources. But of these 71 cities, 11 depend almost completely on groundwater for public water supply. In the remaining, agencies supply water from surface sources by...

Dalits, OBCs in India’s colleges are using beef as a symbol of a resurgent identity     “Non-Brahmins have evidently undergone a revolution. From being beef-eaters to have become non-beef-eaters was indeed a revolution. But if non-Brahmins underwent one revolution, Brahmins had undergone two. They gave up beef-eating, which was one revolution. To have given up meat-eating altogether and become vegetarians was another revolution.”     —B.R. Ambedkar *** The Beef Menu     Available In Kerala,...

Double fortified salt is a good idea but... Iodine & Iron     Iodised salt came to India in the late 1950s     Today, 80 per cent of India uses iodised salt, which has reduced the incidence of goitre     Fortifying salt with both iodine and iron can help fight another widespread condition—anaemia     Double fortified salt, or DFS, could prove to be a game-changer in the fight against malnutrition     But if the fight against...

Population has started to swell in Delhi's suburbs. Gurgaon and Noida (Gautam Buddha Nagar) are among the top five places in India that recorded the highest decadal growth rate in population. While Gurgaon recorded a 74% increase in population between 2001 and 2011, Noida saw a rise by almost 52%. India saw a 17.6% increase in population over the decade. Kurung Kumey - a small district in Arunachal Pradesh bordering China -...

Nearly a year after the government started the ambitious socio-economic and caste census (SECC), no big state has begun the enumeration exercise that was touted as a one-stop solution to accurately identify the poor for distribution of social benefits. The delay could undermine the government's attempt to plug the leakages in the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) and delay the Food Security Bill expected to be implemented in November by at...