When we hear the word innovation, we often think of new technologies or silver bullet solutions — like hydrogen fuel cells or a cure for cancer. To be sure, breakthroughs are vital: antibiotics and vaccines, for example, transformed global health. But as we’ve argued in Fixes, some of the greatest advances come from taking old ideas or technologies and making them accessible to millions of people who are underserved. One area...

Concerned over the plight of poor Scheduled Caste women and children, the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) will take stock of its schemes and their implementation at a two-day meeting beginning here on Tuesday. As a nodal ministry, the WCD will review the outcome of these schemes and gaps in implementation. “It has been seen that targeted schemes do not reach the poor population, thereby excluding 70-75 per cent...

Free bus passes to persons living with HIV were handed over to beneficiaries in Madurai and Dindigul districts by the respective Collectors. People living with HIV, who are receiving free anti-retroviral therapy (ART), had good reason to celebrate Pongal as they received the passes which would enable them to travel to the ART centres free of cost, officials said. While distributing the passes, Madurai Collector C. Kamaraj said that helping people...

India took another step towards universal elementary education last year, with 96.5% of all children aged 6-14 years being enrolled in schools, an extensive private audit has revealed. NGO Pratham`s Annual Survey of Education Report says the proportion of girls in the age group of 11-14 years too increased to 94.1% although quality of education remained a big concern. The survey, the only private audit of elementary education in the country,...

In an unprecedented expression of anger, about 3,000 tribal women Wednesday demonstrated in Barwani before the district collector and the superintendent of police. The demonstrators, including children, were protesting against the arrest of fellow tribals who questioned the rising incidents of maternal deaths in the district government hospitals. The women were gathered under the banner of Jagrit Advasi Dalit Sangathan (JADS), which works for the welfare of tribal farmers. Since April 2010 at...