Millions of women become pregnant because they lack access to contraceptive devices to limit or space their families, or are ignorant about them. In 2008, Arti Chauhan (name changed to protect identity), mother of a 12-year-old girl, a 9-year-old boy and a 6-year old girl, became aware that two pills — mifepristone and misoprostol — could induce an abortion, a procedure she considered after getting pregnant when her boy was […]

The Power Minister Piyush Goyal has claimed that the Government will be successful in completing and 100% implementation of electrification drive by May 2017, almost a year before the 1000-day deadline set by the Modi Government expires. But the question is would that be a realistic deadline and is it possible to reach electricity to each and every Indian household by May next year? This seems especially doubtful after the […]

Leonardo DiCaprio is trying to save the world, one good cause at a time. His latest documentary, Before the Flood, is a step towards that change. In the movie, DiCaprio travels around the world trying to gauge the extent of global warming and to find possible solutions to save the planet from irrevocable damage. In the National Geographic Channel movie, DiCaprio dons the roles of an inquisitor, journalist, researcher, etc. […]

One journalist is killed every four-and-a-half days, according to a shocking report released by Unesco on Wednesday. During the last decade, 827 journalists have been killed while on the job, the Unesco director-general’s report said. The worst hit areas were Arab states including Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya. Latin America is the next worst affected region, the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity report said. Unsurprisingly, most deaths […]

“The hot sambar taken out of a plastic cover would be harmful for people to consume,” he said. Picture a man sitting at the Chennai railway station putting piping hot sambar into aluminum foil packs. Nothing wrong with that. But what if the sambar is being taken out from a plastic bucket with a plastic garbage cover inside? This is what Sharavanan Sivakumar, (48), saw on Sunday morning at the […]

A 40-year-old woman from northern India committed suicide in January after a video of her being raped was circulated on WhatsApp. The BBC’s Divya Arya travelled to the village in Uttar Pradesh to hear the full story. Geeta was a brave woman. She was a health worker in a rural area of northern India, a job that meant she often walked alone between the surrounding villages, sometimes after dark, visiting […]

Even as Diwali preparations get underway, Mumbai and Delhi are under high alert and security has been beefed up in the country’s commercial capital. This is after a twitter handle warned of possible attacks in Delhi and Mumbai during Diwali. The ANI chief has forwarded the tweet to Home Ministry’s official twitter handle. Though at the moment this Twitter threat remain largely unidentified and the credibility of the tweet is […]

Cowism is a startup founded by computer engineer Chetan Raut, who believes the integration of indigenous cows in agriculture is the only solution to stopping farmer suicides. Farmer suicides were at their peak when Chetan Raut was pursuing his engineering course in YCCE, Nagpur. Chetan’s father, Arun Raut, was once a farmer too. He actively participated in the farming revolution by Sharat Joshi when he was a student himself. But, […]

  A damaged classroom is pictured after shelling in the rebel held town of Hass, south of Idlib province, Syria. Air strikes that hit a school in rebel-held Idlib province in northwest Syria killed 22 children and six teachers, the UN children’s agency Unicef said on Wednesday. “This is a tragedy. It is an outrage. And if deliberate, it is a war crime,” said Unicef director Anthony Lake. The Syrian […]

Global wildlife populations have fallen by 58% since 1970, a report says. The Living Planet assessment, by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and WWF, suggests that if the trend continues that decline could reach two-thirds among vertebrates by 2020. The figures suggest that animals living in lakes, rivers and wetlands are suffering the biggest losses. Human activity, including habitat loss, wildlife trade, pollution and climate change, is attributed to […]