-The Indian Express In Gorakhpur, small successes in understanding - and conquering - the killer disease of children are undercut by a wily virus and administrative bottlenecks Gorakhpur: On August 18, five-year-old Vishal spent the evening playing with friends in Vanjhai village in Gorakhpur district's Bhathat block. He came home irritable, with a slight fever. His mother and grandmother gave him a little milk and sent him to bed. They were not...

Bihar Government's programme of distributing bicycles to school girls may be a modest intervention but is leading to big changes. A new research-based paper, brought out in August 2013, corroborates the success of the programme and testifies that it is leading to improved school enrollment of girls and arresting their dropout rates (See links below to read full paper and earlier studies on the subject).   Based on econometric and statistical models,...

-The Telegraph Bhubaneswar: The state government will begin a search for more bauxite mines in the state from the first week of November. The move comes in the wake of the state's inability to provide bauxite from Niyamgiri hills to Vedanta's Lanjigarh alumina refinery in Kalahandi district. Director of the state geology department P.K. Ojha said: "There is a great demand for bauxite as Odisha is witnessing a rapid growth in industrialisation, particularly...

-NDTV The debate on the merits and demerits of the National Food Security Bill went on for months. But most of it seems disconnected to the reality on the ground to the churning lakhs of low income families are experiencing as they register for the new scheme. There is anxiety and desperation to get subsidised foodgrain. In the office of the Food and Supply Officer in Delhi's north east district, many have...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: India had 74,000 excess deaths among girls aged below five last year, a new study has estimated providing what public health researchers say is fresh evidence for widespread neglect of girls over boys during their vulnerable childhood years. The study by a team of researchers in India and Canada has also found that 222 of 597 districts are on track to achieve India's target of reducing under-five child...