-The Hindu The government has approved a Rs. 4,038 crore programme to tackle the Japanese encephalitis and acute encephalitis syndrome in 60 priority districts With thousands of young lives being lost and an equal number of children rendered disabled for life, the government has prepared a comprehensive strategy to tackle Japanese encephalitis (JE) and acute encephalitis syndrome (AES). The dreaded disease has already spread to 17 States affecting 171 districts. With the Cabinet...

-The Hindu Business Line Pushpa M. Bhargava, former Vice-Chairman of National Knowledge Commission, has defended the recommendations of the technical committee, appointed by the Supreme Court, which called for a moratorium on the field trials of genetically modified crops. “The recommendations are in consonance with the increasing evidence and awareness in the two American continents where over 90 per cent of the world’s GM crops are grown that the increasing health problems...

-The Hindu The local community, especially men, have been roped into a project in 22 Maharashtra villages to stop female foeticide and discrimination against the girl child In India, the irony never ceases. While the country venerates several female deities of wealth, learning and valour, it also practises blatant discrimination against the girl child. Going by statistics revealed by the census and various government as well as independent studies, it has been...

-The Hindu If a creditable scheme to promote menstrual health hygiene is not to become an environmental hazard, distributing biodegradable products is a must In June 2010, the Centre approved an unprecedented scheme to promote menstrual health by distributing subsidised sanitary pads among adolescent girls. Priced at Rs.1 each, the pads were targeted at 15 million girls between the years of 10 and 19, and across 152 districts in 20 States. It...

-The Hindu Patiala (Punjab): It is an illegal but accepted practice here to employ agricultural labourers and their family against a loan The blaring gurdwara loudspeakers at Punjab’s Gandav village confirmed the worst fears of Jasbir Kaur. They were announcing that the recently-widowed young woman would lose the one-room shed she calls home if she was unable to pay back the Rs. 80,000 her husband had borrowed from the village landowner. With...