K.M. Basheer’s educational qualifications make him an unlikely leader of a medical movement. He has not studied beyond Class X. But this farmer from Nilambur in Kerala’s Malappuram district heads a society that arranges for home and neighbourhood-level care for the chronically ill. His venture, the Nilambur Palliative Care Society, has inspired several other groups. [...]

In line with its National E-Governance Plan, the Government of India recently launched the India Development Gateway, which seeks to “foster inclusive growth and empower its rural users through relevant information in six languages – Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Bengali and English.” In addition, the portal aims to provide information on agriculture, health, primary education, [...]

Under the auspices of its ”e-gram” initiative, which intends to connect all villages through broadband, the Gujarat government has launched an e-medicine scheme for rural areas.  The objective of the scheme is to “offer online and telemedicine facilities to villagers,” specifically through the installation of web cameras and other infrastructure.  Said Health Minister Jay Narayan Vyas: We [...]

Your daily dose of headlines: Agriculture: The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) in conjunction with academic institutions will begin providing district-specific agro-weather advisories to assist farmers in better managing their crops. Basic Rights: Amnesty International has called the administration of the death penalty in India as being caprcious and arbitrary. The report claims that no real [...]

While the government of India wrestles with its official stance on homosexuality, the gay-lesbian scene in Bangalore is flourishing. Just last week, The Delhi high court directed the Union government to figure out its stance on homosexuality; the ministry of home affairs favours prosecution (homosexuality is punishable under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code), [...]

Education’s Woes and Pros: A new study conducted by UNESCO reveals that less than 30% of schools have access to electricity and only half of them have toilets for girls. In order to address such woeful capacity, the Rajasthan’s state government has signed a public private partnership with UNICEF to expand education across the state [...]

Energy and the Environment: Tata Power promises an environmentally conscious power plant in Cuttack and also pledges to pay above market rates for acquiring the land. The national government launches its ‘Green India’ campaign that will plant trees over 6 million hectares of degraded forests over the next 10 years. Women and Media: Women at [...]

A thoroughly inspiring story reminding us that the most important examples of innovation occur where we least expect them to. Farmers who visit Amai Mahalinga Naik’s two-acre plot on the hilltop near Adyanadka in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka return spellbound. Irrigated farming at this height is very surprising. This 58-year-old illiterate farm labourer has [...]

You daily dose of headlines: Health, Women and Mortality:The lack of inclusion of midwives within the National Rural Health Mission is highlighted as one of the main reasons for the high maternal mortality rate in India. Education: Wada Na Todo Abhiyan (WNTA) continued to push the government to pass the Right to Education Bill. Public [...]

Your daily dose of headlines: Health: India continues to have the world’s highest number of polio cases this year, with the disease having crippled more children till April than it did during the same period in 2007. [Source: Times of India] Children: In a unique lobbying effort, more than 100 ex-child laborers knocked on the [...]