‘Brick kiln workers in India underpaid and exploited’

India employs double the number of labourers than China, yet produces one-fifth of China’s annual brick production of 1 trillion

Population populism: UP draft population bill will impact the vulnerable, especially women

The focus must be on safeguarding women and girls’ reproductive health. Smaller families can be achieved by ensuring gender equality, …

What does Union Budget 2021-22 mean for students, farmers, migrants, health workers? Not much

What was expected in a time of crisis were bold decisions. But finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman decided to play it safe

Children demand inclusion in water and sanitation programmes at UNICEF forum

More than 50 children from across the world participated at the two-day conference in Tajikistan

'Disadvantaged groups have little access to public goods'

Most severely and consistently excluded groups are women, Adivasis, Muslims and the disabled, confirms India exclusion report by NGO

All schools must have separate toilets for girls and boys: Supreme Court

Apex court says toilets, drinking water facilities are integral to RTE Act; pulls up Andhra Pradesh government for not ensuring these facilities …

Silenced to death

The media and the government keep mum on pollution-cancer linkages and the abysmal medical help available in India against the menace

Out of breath

After visiting hospitals and slums VIBHA VARSHNEY has found that asthma makes poor children suffer far more than their rich counterparts. And a …

Degree of commerce

Vedanta gets tracts of thorium-rich land along the Orissa coast for a university. Allegations fly

Gender inequities worsen impact of cancer in women, finds Lancet Commission

Discrimination affects their rights and opportunities to avoid risk factors, ability to get timely diagnosis & quality care

Forest officials have subverted premier research body for personal benefit: CAG

Indian Forest Service officials are occupying top posts meant for scientists in Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education; audit report …

Drying wetlands

Ladakh's high altitude wetlands are under severe stress from the livestock population as well as tourist influx

Call of the wild

A unique festival epitomises efforts for conservation of Assam rainforests which have been lying in a state of neglect for decades

How South Africa can address digital inequalities in e-learning

In the wake of South Africa’s first COVID-19 cases, several educational sites are now zero-rated or free to use

Can COVID-19 pandemic help India foster rural livelihoods and build resilient villages?

The shift of balance created by COVID-19 has revealed that urban centres, while important, need not be the sole creator of jobs or economic …

Stillborn in Africa: UN pegs number at a million every year

Situation has worsened in 2 decades, may slip further due to COVID-19 pandemic, warns Unicef report

Topping the wrong chart: India has highest number of stillbirths

India recorded 0.34 million stillbirths in 2019; COVID-19 has disrupted health systems and added to the existing burden

Short on paramedics

Hospitals employ untrained staff due to acute shortage of qualified paramedics in the country

COVID-19 damaged cognitive development, lifetime earnings of an entire generation, finds Word Bank

Report on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the young, children finds jeopardy to well-being of generations and growth of economies

What is in the Union Budget 2021-22 for children? Not much

The budget continues to deprive pregnant women, lactating mothers and children from vital benefits of schemes and interventions 

Alarming rise in fungal infection cases: PGIMER study

In spite of higher incidence of cases as compared to the West, India lacks infrastructure required for testing of fungal infections

The poverty quibble

Government claims a huge drop in poverty numbers but critical indicators—health, malnutrition and wages—continue to be grim. So how …

Cradles of hope

A recent health survey throws up figures that defy logic. Some districts in India’s nine most backward states have curbed infant mortality …

New Religion

The saffron-clad sadhus and former dacoits now find a ritual for social restructuring and acceptance: water harvesting. They are building "…

Can India be ‘atmanirbhar’ by cutting budget for children

While total allocations to Union budget 2021-22 saw an increase of 14.5%, the share for children declined by 10.8% compared to 2020