-The United Nations A United Nations report released today spotlights the high rates of teenage pregnancies in developing countries - 7.3 million every year - and calls on Governments to help girls achieve their full potential through Education and adequate health services. The State of World Population 2013, produced by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), notes that out of the 7.3 million births, 2 million are to girls who are 14 or...

-The Indian Express Internal migration has risen, and for good reason. Policy must shift to support internal mobility, not control it. As India undergoes the transition from a predominantly rural society to one that is urbanising rapidly, there are inevitable flows of people from rural to urban areas. One set of perspectives tells us that this increase in mobility should not be unexpected; after all, classical modernisation and economic development theories do...

-The Business Standard India has to come to terms with a growing obesity problem that is rapidly becoming a crisis Obesity, an epidemic often thought to be exclusive to wealthy countries, is becoming a rapidly growing crisis for India. The National Family Health Survey of 2006 revealed that roughly one in four urban Indians was overweight or obese, and several more recent studies indicate that these numbers are increasing. A new study...

-The Times of India PUNE: After a failed effort to register attendance of school students online, the state Education department will now attempt to conduct it via SMS. Only 10% of the one lakh schools in the state responded to the online attendance system which prompted the Education department to initiate the attendance through cellphones used widely by school officials and teachers. The department conducted a survey to find out how many schools...

-The Hindu New Delhi: Against the backdrop of increasing violence against women and children across the country, the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development had launched the ‘Ahimsa Messenger' Programme in last August to address the critical issue at the grass roots level through creating numerous Ahimsa Messengers. The messengers would be generating awareness on basic legal rights, procedures and provisions amongst women and children; they would also serve as link...