Feature Article

A recent review has discussed the economic value of vaccine for developed countries. The situation is quite different in developing countries, and we examine the situation in Brazil. Vaccines are of fundamental importance for the control of infectious diseases, especially among the population that lives in poor sanitary conditions. Also, vaccines can generate herd effects that result in protection even among those who have not been vaccinated, which can be of particular value to poor individuals who are not reached by health services.

Electrocution by power lines is one of the main causes of non-natural mortality in birds of prey. In an area in central Spain, we surveyed 6304 pylons from 333 power lines to determine electrocution rates, environmental and design factors that may influence electrocution and the efficacy of mitigation measures used to minimise electrocution cases. A total of 952 electrocuted raptors, representing 14 different species, were observed.

They are registered as clean development mechanism projects, eligible for carbon credits. On October 15, 2010, the regional officer of Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board (CECB), R K Sharma, visited Tilda industrial area in Raipur unannounced. He noticed thick smoke rising from the premises of a renewable energy project. On paper the 8.5 MW power plant, Agrawal Renewable Energy Project, uses rice husk, a cleaner alternative to coal, to produce electricity. The electrostatic precipitator (ESP), an emission control device, installed in the plant was tripping frequently.

Dealing with economic crises, environmental pressures and dwindling resources keeps the oil and gas industry constantly on its toes, says Kate McAlpine.

This is in response to the comments made by Rahul Banerjee (“National Water Policy”, 13 August 2011) and Chetan Pandit (“Alternative National Water Policy: A Critique”, 10 September 2011) on my article “National Water Policy: An Alternative Draft for Consideration” (25 June 2011).

In recent years public-private partnerships have been offered as the miracle-cure that would help fix all the challenges to the health sector. Over the last decade, a number of ppps providing maternal health services have come into existence but few have been evaluated. This paper examines whether ppps with the for-profit private sector which provide maternal health services have contributed or are likely to contribute to making quality maternal health services accessible at affordable prices to the poor and marginalised sections of the population, as envisaged by policymakers.

There has been an upsurge of public discussion on a number of inter-related issues revolving around official assessments of poverty, the linking of welfare entitlements to poverty status, the reasonableness of officially stipulated money-metric poverty lines, the relative virtues of universalisation and targeting of welfare benefits, and the fiscal sustainability of increased public spending in the cause of poverty redress.

Recent events in south Asia have led to an unexpected reversal in the narrative of microfinance, long presented as a development success. Despite charges of poor treatment of clients, exaggeration of the impact on the poorest as well as the risks of credit bubbles, the sector can play a non-negligible role in reaching financial services to low-income households. In regulating the sector, there is need for caution in setting interest rate ceilings on micro-loans and for greater openness to micro-savings products.

The anti-corruption movement has enabled the Indian middle class to feel smug about itself. Its members have gone through a vast range of emotions during the last two decades, from self-hatred to self-righteousness. Liberalisation of the economy has created for this class an excitement of many kinds. It has meant the freedom to pursue the quest for wealth without guilt and, at the same time, it has meant feeling set adrift from tradition and the culture it signifies.

Seven years after the 2004 tsunami, with the coastal communities in Tamil Nadu yet to reconcile with its after-effects, another disaster is gradually unfolding. A massive relief and rehabilitation campaign, largely driven by private aid with the state playing a mere regulatory role, has opened up the coast for investment, making it a most attractive zone for a new kind of disaster capitalism with ultra mega industrial projects of ports, thermal power plants and petrochemical industries. An investment-led growth regime