-The Indian Express Contraceptive use saves the lives of more than a quarter of million women each year, either from death in childbirth or unsafe abortions, according to estimates published. In 2008, 355,000 women died while giving birth or from illegal or dangerous abortions, a study published by The Lancet said. But more than 250,000 deaths were averted that year because contraception reduced unwanted pregnancies, it said. “If all women in developing countries who...

-FAO Sustainable fisheries and aquaculture play a crucial role in food and nutrition security and in providing for the livelihoods of millions of people. FAO's latest flagship publication on the state of fisheries and aquaculture, launched at the opening of the 30th session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries, highlights the sector's vital contribution to the world's well-being and prosperity, a point reflected in the recent Rio+20 Outcome Document. The State of...

-The Times of India   Higher education in India should not perpetuate inequality of opportunity It's admission time again. Charming images of 'freshers' entering the campus and glossy advertisements of the universities we had never heard before hide the harsh reality of educational mortality from school to higher education. Elaborate coverage of rising cutoffs and entrance tests draw our attention to individual merit and luck. We tend to forget the overwhelming role of...

-Down to Earth   Punjab has been in the grip of cancer for over a decade but the government has ignored the threat.  It all started with a knot in her left breast. Within no time it grew to the size of a tennis ball. In pain, 40-year-old Raj Rani went to the doctor in her village in Punjab’s Ferozepur district. Finding no relief, she started doing the rounds of government hospitals in...

-The United Nations The world needs to take a hard look at speculation on the financial markets and its potential impact on food price volatility, the head of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today. “Excessive food price volatility, especially at the speed at which price swings have been occurring since 2007, has negative impacts on poor consumers and poor producers alike all over the world,” FAO’s Director-General, José...