FAMILY planning practices are growing rapidly, but not fast enough to make a dent in the world's population. The UN argues there is a large unmet demand for family planning services. In one

THE ACHIEVEMENTS are quite remarkable. But the challenge that still remains is quite daunting. During the 1980s, 20 developing countries halved their under-5 death rates -- the number of children

"ONE OF the best investments the global community can make is in AIDS prevention," says Dr Michael H Mezon, director of the Global Programme on AIDS (GPA) of the World Health Organisation. "Money

TOBACCO came to India in the 17th century with the Portuguese and today, the plant is grown over as much as half a million hectares in the country. India was one of the first countries in the

HOW MUCH oil would be needed to replace all the firewood used in the developing world? According to one set of calculations, just about one-twentieth of all the oil used by the world. But for

"TELL ME what form of transport you'll use and I'll tell you what your city will look like." This statement by an eminent urban planner sums up the deep relationship between transport modes and urban

EMISSIONS of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides play a key role in the formation of acid rain and consequently, the acidification of soils. Production of nitrogen oxides leads to ozone build-up in

WESTERN nations are worried about increasing international migration. Says a 1992 document of Western nations, "Migration is now seen as a priority issue equal in political weight to other major

IS THE Indian economy becoming more and more environment-intensive? The greater the use made of energy and materials by an economy to produce goods and services worth one unit of its GNP, the greater

ACCORDING to the department of ocean development there are 40 heavily polluted areas along the Indian coast. Marine pollution problems, though localised, occur off most metropolitan cities and