-The Hindu TrustID has been developed by Swabhimaanya, registered authentication user agency with UIDAI Whether hiring a domestic help or taking a cab, authenticating the identity of a person is a big challenge in India. A newly-launched mobile application aims to fill this gap by enabling such verifications using Aadhaar. The application — TrustID — has been developed by Swabhimaanya, which is a registered authentication user agency with the Unique Identification Authority of...

-The Hindu Despite a mountain of evidence testifying to the huge toll of suicide in our youth and the knowledge of effective interventions to prevent suicide, there remains no coordinated effort to address suicide as a public health issue in India. The recent suicides of three young women students in a medical college in Tamil Nadu citing the appalling conditions in their institution add to the mounting toll of suicides among young...

-The Times of India Chennai: For long, they were dubbed as the villain among vegetation, sucking all the water from ground, spreading rapidly along the coast and degrading the environment. More than a century after Prosopis juliflora, a shrub, was introduced in Indian soil by the British, scientists are now trying to use its genes to engineer rice varieties that can withstand water scarcity. After coming up with rice grains that are...

-The Hindu Efforts to include children with disabilities in mainstream schools are fraught with challenges, say experts. Chennai: The last few weeks have been hectic for Sangeetha* (name changed) as she has been looking to admit her 11-year-old son into a new school for the coming academic year. “My son has mild Pervasive Development Disorder (PDD) and was studying in a private school in Mogappair but he and 17 other children with special...

-The Times of India Chennai: In a rare initiative, the Tamil Nadu government has taken up waste management and conservancy in villages using the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme to employ conservancy workers. The scheme is being implemented in 9,000 of 12,000 panchayats and more than 60,000 `Thuimai Kavalars` (sanitation workers) have been appointed so far. All workers are paid Rs.183 as daily wages. The Union rural development department...