-Live Mint Research conducted in 10 European cities; results comparable to the burden associated with passive smoking Exposure to vehicular pollution near busy roads is responsible for 14% of chronic childhood asthma cases, according to a new research conducted in 10 European cities. The results are comparable to the burden associated with passive smoking which, the World Health Organization estimates, causes between 4% and 18% of asthma cases in children. The study was...

-Frontline How far will the proposed women's bank help marginalised sections when women's SHGs get little support and find it hard even to open accounts in public sector banks? WHILE the recent announcement of a women's bank in the Union Budget has been touted as a progressive measure for the financial inclusion of women, no concrete measures have been forthcoming to make all existing public sector banks sensitive to the needs...

-The Business Standard Sale price of Rs 3 per kg for rice, Rs 2 for wheat and Re 1 for coarse cereals will be revised every three years The National Food Security Bill is expected to be tabled in Parliament today, after being cleared by the Cabinet earlier this week. The Bill has said that it will be responsibility of the central government to provide assistance to the states in meeting the expenditure...

-The Business Standard The various grants under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan don't reach all schools - and not on time, either Educational spending is soaring. At the turn of the decade, new legislation has been enacted to make education a fundamental right. But India's elementary schoolchildren are just not learning. The country's elementary education budget has more than doubled since 2007-08, from Rs 68,853 crore to Rs 147,059 crore this fiscal, but the...

-The Hindu Bangalore: 40 child labourers freed from bars, hotels in Gandhinagar area in the city Rescued from the various bars, restaurants and lodges in the Gandhinagar area, the line of children in the age group 14 to 16 sat on the floor of the Balakara Balamandira on Wednesday afternoon. "Forty children were taken into custody after raids on about 10 establishments. One of them was a 13-year-old girl. Twenty-eight were from Karnataka...