Although containing fake notes in circulation was one of the objectives behind demonetisation when it was undertaken in 2016, recent data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reveals that fake counterparts of some denominations grew during 2017-18 vis-à-vis the previous year. The recently released Annual Report for 2017-18 of the RBI shows that the total number of pieces of counterfeit notes of Rs. 2000/- denomination, which was detected in the...

-The Hindu The disease cannot be eliminated without universal access to affordable, quality diagnostics and drugs After decades spent battling the scourge of tuberculosis (TB) in developing countries, 2018 might be the year that it is finally accorded the gravitas it deserves. On September 26, the UN General Assembly will, for the first time, address TB in a High-Level Meeting and likely release a Political Declaration, endorsed by all member nations, to...

-The Hindu The government must stop storing millions of tonnes of foodgrains in the open under tarpaulins In India, the height of the rainy season is a time that one prays will pass — flooded roads, wet clothes, masses of insects and mould. No place is safe from the growth of fungi that spring up overnight. With the humidity in the air and the warmth of summer, all that fungi need is...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: A group of ministers led by Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday deliberated on the recommendations that a panel had submitted last week as part of efforts to check lynchings following a Supreme Court prod to end such "acts of mobocracy". Among the suggestions that the panel, headed by Union home secretary Rajiv Gauba, had come up with was tightening of existing laws and action against India...

-Livemint.com Ecologist Madhav Gadgil, whose report on Western Ghats was rejected by the Kerala government, on what caused the Kerala floods and how the rebuilding process should be carried out Ernakulam (Kerala): Submitted seven years ago on 31 August 2011, ecologist Madhav Gadgil’s report on the biodiverse Western Ghats—a portion of which falls in Kerala—had warned that the combination of massive ecological destruction and extreme weather events trigger disaster. His words proved...