Young rag-pickers sifting through rubbish are a common image of India’s chronic poverty, but destitute children face new hazards picking apart old computers as part of the growing “e-waste” industry. Asif, aged seven, spends his days dismantling electronic equipment in a tiny, dimly-lit unit in east Delhi along with six other boys. “My work is to pick out these small black boxes,” he said, fingers deftly prising out integrated circuits from the...

The monthly farmers' grievance meeting held here at the district collectorate on Friday witnessed a slew of demands from farmers ranging from early desilting of PWD channels to release of crop loans to opposition of proposed power projects. There was a collective demand for desilting of PWD channels before water was released from the Mettur Dam. Transparency in the number of channels listed for desilting, along with works cost involved for...

With the national capital furiously gearing up to meet the deadlines of the Commonwealth Games, the alarming number of deaths of construction workers in absence of proper safety norms and adequate compensation is a cause of concern, say social activists. The actual number of accidents and casualties are much more but many such cases never get reported, they add. Fifty nine construction workers were killed and 115 suffered serious injuries...

KEY TRENDS  • The eight leading cause-groups of deaths in 2008 based on Medical Certification of Cause of Death are: 1. Diseases of the Circulatory System; 2. Certain Infectious and Parasitic Diseases; 3. Injury, Poisoning and Certain Other Consequences of External Causes; 4. Diseases of the Respiratory System; 5. Certain Conditions Originating in the Perinatal Period; 6. Neoplasm (C00-D48); 7. Endocrine, Nutritional, Metabolic Diseases; and 8. Symptoms, Sign and Abnormal Clinical...