In what could mean danger signals for malaria stricken North-Eastern region including Assam, a new report has said that opportunities for malaria transmission is likely to linger long enough even as the disease is projected to spread to new areas in the Himalayan region. In the North-Eastern region, there is a likelihood that the windows of transmission of malaria may increasingly remain open for at least seven-nine months and may even...

Pesticide issue finds its echo in the Lok Sabha Even as the Endosulfan issue rocking Kerala found its echo in the Lok Sabha on Monday, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) constituted a committee to study the pesticide's effects in Kasaragod district. ICMR Director-General Vishwamohan Kattoch will head the 10-member committee. It will have various subject experts, including public health workers, as its members. The committee will visit Kerala within a...

The 10,000 MW nuclear power plant that the NPCIL proposes to set up at Jaitapur, Maharashtra, with reactors from French company Areva, was on the agenda of the Union environment Ministry's Expert Appraisal Committee meeting on Monday. According to some members, the committee plans to recommend a conditional environmental clearance for the plant. However, it is not clear what the final decision of the committee will be. It is then up...

The country will release its first assessment report on Tuesday, on the impact of climate change on agriculture, health, water and forests in four regions of the country. The report, covering the Himalayas, the Western Ghats, the coastal zone and the northeast has been prepared by the Indian Network for Climate Change Assessment (INCCA) comprising 220 scientists from 120 research institutions across the country. "We need to know what would be...

Launched 20 years ago with the simple line that "people are the real wealth of a nation", the United Nations' Human Development Report has become the most trusted annual indicator of progress in developing nations. The 20th anniversary report charts progress going back 20 years before that first publication - so it is an ambitious attempt to chart development achievements - or not - going back 40 years. The UN Development Programme's...