There are serious concerns over shortages of food and housing as the country's population is expected to reach 1.45bn by 2035 The Madanpur Khadr colony is a tenement slum on the southern outskirts of Delhi, the Indian capital. A decade ago there was nothing here but green fields, buffaloes wallowing, goats grazing and the odd small dwelling. Now an estimated 40,000 people live in ramshackle, five-storey, brick and concrete homes, 10 to...

Absence of preventive measures and affordable and accessible health care leads to nearly 500 encephalitis deaths in Uttar Pradesh. IT is a strange paradox. In a country that aspires to be a superpower and boasts of rapid economic growth, 488 children died in a State, Uttar Pradesh, from encephalitis alone this year. It is nothing less than a national shame and tragedy. In six districts of Bihar, close to 200 children...

Against the backdrop of what has been happening in central India over the past few months, Putting Women First possibly has several lessons to offer to policymakers. Situated in Gadchiroli, the image of which in the public mind is that of a “naxal-infested, backward tribal district”, the book provides an insight into what moves the sinews of that community. Rani Bang, the primary author of the book, along with her husband...

In the wake of uproar over the crib deaths at two State-run hospitals, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said most of the babies that had died were underweight and malnourished. Emphasising that the problem was “hidden elsewhere,” Ms. Banerjee, who has additional charge of the Health portfolio, blamed the previous Left Front government for the poor healthcare infrastructure in the State. “West Bengal ranks fourth after Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu...

-Express News Service   For a country making strides as an emerging economic power, gender inequality remains an area where it compares poorly with the rest of the world. India is placed 129th among 146 countries in terms of GII, or gender inequality index, far behind neighbouring Sri Lanka at 74 and lagging most other countries in the region. Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan are ranked 112, 113 and 115 in terms of this...