The mid-day meal tragedy in Bihar might not have happened if there had been a mother like Nazia Jaahan of Lucknow. Parvinder Singh and Priyanka Sarkar profile the woman who made a difference

The mini sanitary napkin-making machine fabricated by Aakar Innovations could revolutionize rural women’s health, feels Alka Tiwari. For, just 12 per cent of women use sanitary napkins now

The 13th amendment only provides the mirage of devolution, Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam tells Paul Newman, explaining his party’s decision not to contest the provincial elections in Sri Lanka

Conservancy workers in Pune are demanding that manufacturers of sanitary pads share responsibility for safe disposal of the10 million used pads generated in a month in the city, says Quaid Najmi

It is inevitable that the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora would mobilize again, Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, the TNPF leader who wants a transitional administration in Tamil areas, tells Paul Newman

Jammu and Kashmir has no rehabilitation policy to provide succor to women who have lost their limbs or got maimed in landmine and other blasts through the violent years, says Ashutosh Sharma

India’s Border Security Force is going beyond its call of duty to bring smile on the face of children with cleft lips and palates. Sujit Chakraborty visits the medical camps in remote areas

Zakia Jafri, whose husband Ahsan was killed in the 2002 Gujarat riots, still hopes to get justice. Humra Quraishi profiles the courageous 73-year-old woman, who has survived riots in the past

A Delhi-based couple is upcycling plastic waste by teaming up with rag pickers, improving the lifestyle of those at the bottom of the pyramid. Kavita Kanan Chandra spoke to the Ahujas and rag pickers associated with the NGO, Conserve India

A citizen’s group in Bangalore is planning to organize an 18 month training programme for aspiring corporators to help them imbibe leadership qualities, among other things, says V S Karnic

What happens when an infant can be fed with only mother’s milk but the mother can’t or is dead? To help such kids, India’s fourth Mother’s Milk Bank was started in Udaipur, says Anil Sharma

People in villages around Mithi Virdi in Gujarat, where a nuclear park is to come up, live in fear, like those around the Koodankulam plant. They tell Ankur Paliwal what they stand to lose

A believer in democratisation of power, Anupam Jalote, who gave up an MNC job in 2008, is now set to launch his plant that will generate electricity with locally available biomass and organic waste. Akash Bisht meets the man with a mission

The media does not follow the rules in certain matters, while the judiciary could be vindictive also, said Justice K Chandru, speaking at the Friends of Positive Journalism Conclave in Chennai

An Auroville resident, Kathy Walkling, feels that women should switch over to washable sanitary napkins. She tells P C Vinoj Kumar about the cloth pads that she makes and their overall benefit for the user, the environment and the economy