Tuberculosis has emerged as the greatest danger to India threatening the health of millions. More than 4,500 people die everyday unable to battle the disease. It is not AIDS that will be India's greatest threat, as most of us believe, warns Ramesh Menon.

In the last 20 years, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) has emerged as an accelerator to Tuberculosis. It helps TB spread rapidly as the HIV patient's immune system is already weak. HIV's ability to fast forward TB has frightening implications, says Ramesh Menon.

The mounting cost of hospital care, increasing out-of-pocket expenditure, and its catastrophic impact on family finances demand an innovative and flexible risk-pooling mechanism to provide a security net for the poor. Merely transfering the costs to the public exchequer will land the nation in a no-win situation, writes Jayaprakash Narayan.

There are an estimated 200,000 children with HIV who are under 15 years old in the country, while some 50,000 to 60,000 children are born with HIV each year, according to NACO estimates, despite the fact that drugs now exist to immunize such children from the threat of contamination from their mothers. Darryl D'Monte reports.

India's attitude to condoms and contraception is worrisome at a time when promiscuity has a stamp of approval. Condom manufacturers are pitching pleasure enhancement in their ads, instead of being direct about the protection against AIDS. Charumathi Supraja reports.

Recent data on health indicators suggest that while health care in Goa remains far ahead of the national average, there are many cracks in the system. Indeed, on many counts the state appears to be losing the ground gained earlier, even as new challenges loom. Rupa Chinai reports.

Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal would do well to assess the learnings from two recent and major HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns, before "looking into the ban on sex education", if he really wants to make change, writes Charumathi Supraja.

It is frightening to think of how the new drug resistant strain of tuberculosis is going to spread in crowded, unhygienic, urban India. Doctors are worried. Ramesh Menon reports.

Recent advances in Indian surgical capabilities have put the world on notice that our doctors are capable of providing world-class care. The question now is, how do we get this to the masses? Ramesh Menon reports.

The conduct of election of members to the Medical Council of India in 2013 and its subsequent actions over the past year have underlined the brazen corruption in the regulatory body. Developments in the health ministry raise doubts over whether these issues will be tackled at all.  A round up

With a recent drug sample report confirming the presence of rat poison in medicines administered to Chhattisgarh’s hapless tubectomy victims, it is yet another wake-up call for India to address the threats posed by its $4.25-billion fake drugs market. Tanvi Bhatikar bares some stark facts.

Led by children themselves, and ably assisted by concerned adult guidance, a remarkable Children's Council gives true meaning to citizenship and informed choices.

Bangalore Municipality's fourth quarter results round up and other updates from the city' Public Records of Operations and Finance (PROOF) campaign.

Incorporating a financial structure that allows stakeholders to hold each other accountable in their balance of interests can make municipal water supply a win-win for everyone, says Jacob John.

India Together

Karnataka's Electricity Regulatory Commission reminds Bangalore's power supplier it has an obligation to provide reliable and safe service.

Hit by metal mining and tree cutting, the Kapotagiri hill range in Karnataka was turning barren. But in the last year, a local seer has worked with forest officials to bring back some of the green glory, reports Shivaram Pailoor.

Residents of seven villages in Kolar district depend on water from the Mudiyanur tank which is not in good shape and in need of de-silting. Still, the villagers' worship of goddess Chowdeswari has helped them preserve an age-old tradition of water allocation, finds Surekha Sule.

A Karnataka district that has been reeling under three successive years of drought may be bouncing back. The state government's top bureaucrat in Bagalkote district led civil society groups in a water harvesting campaign between 16-27 June, just as the monsoon rains had begun. Shree Padre reports.

The latest vocational education courses are presenting job opportunities for high school graduates that their poor parents lacked. Institutes conducting bilingual training are particularly helpful for students who are very likely to have not schooled in English medium. Padmalatha Ravi has more.

In the major metros, a range of new vocational courses is helping high school students find jobs in the rapidly industrialising sectors. What about job-seekers in small towns and rural areas? Padmalatha Ravi reports on two NGO-led training innovations in Tamilnadu and Karnataka.

Smooth relocation of forest dwellers from within to outside tiger reserves requires effective land records and land use policies. Citing the messy situation in the Sariska Tiger Reserve, an official says that even today, there is no reliable estimate of number of people and livestock living inside the reserve. Malini Shankar has more on the challenges.

A study of women's lives in the L R Nagar slum of Bangalore shows how women's economic and social independence in the slum may be linked to age, as well the socio-economic constraints of individual families. Sarayu Pani summarises her study.

A 3-acre pond dug in the Yenepoya Medical College 15 kms from Mangalore is catching run-off from about 15 acres of the campus and from an equal area of their neighbourhood. It has already saved the institution a substantial sum on getting water from outside. Shree Padre reports.

An inspection of the latest electoral rolls released by Bangalore's municipal body reveals that it's riddled with errors, despite recent door-to-door surveys. Kathyayini Chamaraj reports on suggestions made by a joint initiative of citizens groups to correct the anomalies.

Girish Kasaravalli's latest film is a beautiful celluloid essay on the trials and tribulations of a poor Muslim woman, Gulabi, as the world around her changes in response to apparently unconnected events. Shoma Chatterji reviews the film.

It takes more to feed the family amidst destroyed houses and ruined hopes. The flood-hit women in North Karnataka are putting up with more than what their menfolk could ever empathise with. Savita Hiremath has more.

How did a journalist who covered the infamous homestay attack for his employer end up in jail with serious charges leveled against him? The Mangalore Police holds the answer, finds Vaishnavi Vittal.

A retired physician in small-town Manipal in Karnataka sets an example in kitchen gardening and highlights the many benefits it brings apart from the yield itself. Shree Padre brings us his remarkable story.

A performance audit of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in Karnataka reveals delayed payment of wages, sometimes by three months or more, to nearly five lakh workers under the scheme during the period 2009-12. Himanshu Upadhyaya looks at the key audit findings and connects the dots.

As Gram Panchayats in Karnataka go to the polls this year, Madhavi Rajadhyaksha explores the untapped potential of these grassroots institutions and suggests ways in which their capabilities may be leveraged and capacity strengthened.

As environmental clearance on the proposed Tadri port in Karnataka is awaited, Dina Rasquinha and Aarthi Sridhar discuss how assumed future benefits of the port have been projected in complete disregard of the natural, environmental gifts that the region enjoys.

An India Together interview with Nirmalatai Purandare, of the Vanasthali Rural Development Centre.

From being deprived of the most basic liberties, Anita Dhangda has travelled many miles, and the lessons of that passage make her determined to succeed in her new role.

Shelter Associates uses Geographic Information Systems to study slums, and Maharashtra's municipal councils find new opportunities for civic improvement.

Geeta Seshu reports on a recent study that recently looked at decreasing funding for women specific schemes.

Nirmala Lathi has devised a method of vermiculture that enables plants to grow healthily using properly treated organic waste. Rasika Dhavse reports.

Is information technology any use to poor and uneducated populations? 1V1C has trained villagers not only to use computers, but to put them to productive use in solving local problems. Surekha Sule reports.

Municipalities are outsourcing city waste collection to private contractors. As a result, rag-pickers face a loss of their livelihood, unless the informal sector itself is institutionalised within the hierarchy of solid waste management. Surekha Sule reports.

We need to put aside our obsession with becoming "world class". Let us make our cities liveable for all the people, says Kalpana Sharma.

Farmers weighed down by debt are now falling prey to land grab by an array of predators that includes talatis and school teachers. A "proper" deed of sale is the preferred method. P Sainath continues his series on Vidharbha's crisis.

"In the time of crisis, when no helping hand is coming forward to rescue us, we have to manage ourselves," says Bhagwat Jadhav, a resident of Bondgavhan village in Vidarbha. His neighour, cotton farmer Ramesh Rathod committed suicide recently. "It could be our turn tomorrow," says a worried Jadhav. Jaideep Hardikar reports.

Maharashtra's latest step towards water management has raised a large controversy, pitting strong views against one another. But lost amidst the arguments is an important fact - the solutions for our water crises are not going to be easy, because we've left ourselves very few options. M Rajshekhar reports.

Amongst a number of other problems, this village in Sangli district, Maharashtra, was ridden with alcoholism and disease for over two decades. Since 2001, that began to change. Kavthepiran made a turnaround, banned alcoholism, and won a national award for 100 per cent sanitation this year. Vinita Deshmukh reports.

Stirred by a media campaign, a team of youngsters from Pune launched an effort to help villagers avoid the scramble for water at wells. Well-lined tanks and a simple pipeline has reduced the loss of water, and literally brought it to villagers' doorsteps. Vinita Deshmukh reports.

"We are confused, whom should we believe in? The finance minister says action will be taken within 48 hours against officials who do not release the credit, and the babus say they have no notification," says sixty-year-old Tatyaji Panghate at Ghonsa in Zari Jamni block of Yavatmal. Jaideep Hardikar reports on more suicides in Vidarbha.

For a miniscule community of East-Bengali origin living in in Maharashtra, it has been a long struggle for the right to learn in their mother tongue. The community has won some victories recently, and much more remains to be done. Aparna Pallavi reports.

The Comptroller and Auditor General's audit of relief packages for Vidarbha's farmers finds that they were tardy in implementation, mindless in conceptualisation and "inconsistent with local needs." The state government has skirted debate. Jaideep Hardikar on the indictment.

The forest regions in Brahmapuri and Chandrapur regions in Maharashtra are the scene of a spurt in tiger attacks for the last two years. Fear of attack has also caused significant damage to the forest-reliant local economy. Aparna Pallavi reports.

Shivangaon, a village near Nagpur produces a staggering Rs.25-29 crores worth of milk each year. Government-led land acquisition here for a new cargo hub is hurting the local economy, reports Jaideep Hardikar.