The housing and houselisting census data do not paint a rosy picture of India in terms of basic amenities for its households. The data on household amenities and assets, released recently by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, are a stark reminder of the immense disparities that exist in India in terms of basic entitlements such as electricity, sanitation facilities, proper drainage, and clean drinking and...

-The Hindustan Times Imagine this: you have two children, a toddler and a teenager. Would you ever leave the younger one in the care of the older one (unsupervised by a senior) for a long period of time? Or would you leave your minor child unattended at home with gas and electrical appliances within his/her reach? In both cases, we assume, the answer would be a firm no. But when it...

 Madhya Pradesh cancelled licences of seven 'gutkha' companies and banned its manufacture and sale in the state from April 1. MP is the first state in the country to ban tobacco, magnesium carbonate and nicotine-based 'gutkha' following provisions of the Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restriction on Sales) Regulation 2011.  Health minister and government spokesman Narottam Mishra said gutkha manufacturing licences in the state will not be renewed. "Gutkha makers...

Ranchi, April 3: Newbie eighth grader Radha Kumari at Government Middle School in Ranchi’s Tharpakhna is happy over her promotion, but says it does not feel like she is in a new class. “No new textbooks,” she frowns. Radha is not alone. In fact, 60 lakh students between classes I and VIII studying in 40,000-odd state-run primary and middle schools are in a similar quandary. They have not received their new,...

-The Deccan Herald   Diddalli, a hamlet under Channayanakote grama panchayat, lacks even basic infrastructure facilities. The labourers who planted teakwood trees under Neduthopu yojane of the forest department at Devamacchi forest in 1972 were shifted to Nagapura and Channayanakote in 1982. The forest department had alloted two acres of land for the labourers who settle down in the new place. However, Diddalli does not boast of anything that a civilised society can be proud...