-The United Nations Member States must ensure that the post-2015 development agenda addresses inequalities that prevent millions of people from getting access to basic services, various United Nations entities today stressed. In a joint statement, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Friends of water, and the Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, urged countries to frame the...

-The Telegraph Bhubaneswar: The housing and urban development department of the Odisha government has submitted a proposal of Rs 559 crore to the Centre for construction of houses in the Phailin and flood-ravaged Berhampur city. While the department has sought assistance of Rs 313 crore under the Rajeev Awas Yojana for rebuilding houses for the 13 seriously affected localities inhabited by slum dwellers, Rs 246 crore has been sought to provide sewerage,...

-The Hindu     Kushti is located at the intersection of sports, politics and culture and is deeply embedded in the agrarian economy. If farming tanks, so does Maharashtra's greatest spectator sport. You'd think it was the turnout for Sachin Tendulkar's final test. Anyone might - seeing close to two lakh people showing up five hours before start of play, despite a nagging drizzle. But this is "below normal" for Kundal town, which hosts...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh today asked every state to "follow" the Bihar model of linking housing benefits to toilets as a possible solution to the chronic problem of poor sanitation in Indian villages. The Union minister's praise, weeks after he had accused Narendra Modi of being a copycat toilet crusader, appeared to be aimed at giving a leg-up to chief minister Nitish Kumar, a potential ally for...

-The Hindu As the country develops economically, its double burden of malnutrition and its health implications will increasingly affect women and those who are socio-economically weak India has one of the highest burdens of underweight women in the world, with rising obesity levels. Using the World Health Organisation classification based on body mass index, or BMI (the ratio of the weight of the body in kilograms to the square of its height...