-The Hindu Amidst worrisome indications that human-induced climate change is affecting the monsoon over India, research just published adds to a body of evidence showing that extremes in rainfall are increasing. "Our analyses indicate a shift in the recent period towards more intense wet spells and more frequent but less intense dry spells," say a team of researchers from Stanford University in the U.S. in a Nature Climate Change paper. The scientists examined...

-The United Nations   Antibiotic resistance - when bacteria change so antibiotics no longer work in people who need them to treat infections - is now a major threat to public health, says a new United Nations report released today. The study, produced by the UN World Health Organization (WHO), is the first to look at antimicrobial resistance, including antibiotic resistance, globally, and provides the most comprehensive picture to date, incorporating data from...

-The Times of India   NEW DELHI: Taking forward an agreed framework of the 2013 Warsaw climate conference, India has come out with a draft national policy on 'reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation' (popularly known as REDD+ initiative) which will enable local communities to get financial incentives for increasing forest cover. The REDD+ initiative is a global mitigation mechanism under a UN body, linking deforestation, degradation, conservation of forest carbon...

-The Times of India   BANGALORE: It's been a year since the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act was passed; one of Parliament's several responses to increasing attacks on women. The act has been described by some as one of the most exacting in the world, especially with regard to the responsibilities it places on employers. To understand what has changed since the act came into being, TOI spoke to a...

-Down to Earth   Study published in The Lancet indicates what the country will need to spend to provide basic cancer screening and care to patients A report published in the international journal, The Lancet, has drawn attention to poor infrastructure and treatment facilities for cancer patients in India, which is leading to high cancer mortality. To deliver even a basic cancer screening and treatment package in rural India, 15 states would need to...