Feature Article

Arctic sea ice at its lowest in 2011, says World Meteorological Organization report. The year 2011 has been the 10th warmest year on record in spite of a strong La Nina, which has a relatively cooling influence. In the event of a La Nina, the sea surface temperature is lower than usual in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Also, in 2011, the extent of the Arctic sea ice was the second lowest on record, and its volume was the lowest, revealed a provisional statement by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

If the battle to eradicate polio were an action movie, this week would be the part where the good guys have racked up spectacular victories – but look like they may lose anyway. On the spectacular side, polio may be gone in India. Of the four countries where polio remained entrenched, the giant country was expected to be the last to fall. Yet its most recent case was in January this year, whereas by this time last year, it had had 40 cases.

If we can bail out the banks, surely we can keep up the pressure on HIV. (Editorial)

Two degrees Celsius. That increase in global temperatures has become synonymous with "dangerous climate change". Lobbyists haggle over it, scientists build models around it and Greens wring their hands over it. So it is dispiriting to learn, with the next round of United Nations negotiations under way in Durban, South Africa, that many climatologists feel it is a target we are almost certain to miss. (Editorial)

This paper presents primary data collected from two districts of Surat and Kutch in Gujarat and examines how and to what extent the decentralised system of governance has contributed to delivery of health services in rural areas of Gujarat. It finds several lacunae and shortcomings in the delivery by panchayati raj institutions of public health programmes.

Andhra Pradesh’s Aarogyasri programme has placed health on the political map in the state and is popular with the masses. However, corporate hospitals handle the biggest share of the cases and there is no provision for outpatient treatment of everyday illnesses that affect the working capacity of the patient. The focus on tertiary healthcare to the exclusion of all other forms of medical assistance leads to an inefficient medical care model with a low level of real impact on meeting the needs of healthcare and the health of the population.

This article reviews the progress of electronic waste recycling around the world and emphasises the need to give more economic importance to this sector in the developing nations. Two cases are considered for determining a model of recycling under the present constraints. These alternative models can provide a basic foundation for laying out the respective roles of producers and consumers for economic recycling of this waste.

The environmental campaign in Dahanu near Mumbai against the capacity MW plant started in the 1980s and ultimately led to the setting up of the Dahanu Taluka Environment Protection Authority. Even as competing lobbies continue to push for the de-notification of its status as an ecologically fragile region and removal of the Dahanu Authority the environmentalists walk a tight rope attempting to protect the natural resource base of the region.