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Saturday, January 3, 2026
TopicRural India

Topic: Rural India

In Bihar villages, children are learning to fight fake news. Study shows classrooms help

More than 13,500 adolescents across 583 villages participated in the experiment, discovering how to engage their families in conversations about truth and myth.

How reusable sanitary pads are changing lives in rural India

Unlike disposable pads, which contribute to environmental waste and financial strain, reusable alternatives are affordable, durable, and eco-friendly.

Encourage IIT, IIM graduates to work in smaller towns. Decongest big cities like US, Japan, Spain do

By 2036, 40% of India’s population will reside in cities. This presents significant challenges—the problem isn’t the pace of urbanisation, but the failure to sustain the expansion.

In rural India, 82.2% teens aged 14-16 know how to use smartphone but only 57% use it for studies

Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2024 also reveals 36.2% of boys in 14-16 age group own a smartphone compared to just 26.9% of girls in same age group.

80% rural India’s calorie intake low, Govt claims of falling poverty false, says economist Utsa Patnaik

At Second P Sundarayya Memorial Lecture, Patnaik spoke about reliable sources of nutritional data being ‘undermined’, British exploitation & ‘unrelenting attack’ on developing nations.

Girl kills father, lover turns murderer. Are rural romances growing deadlier?

Love affairs in rural India seem to be turning deadlier, more brutal, and increasingly gender-agnostic. These breathlessly covered ‘prem prasangs’ suggest a churning among rural youth and a society that’s unprepared.

92% of rural households’ hospitalisation costs are out of pocket, 77% for urban families—govt data

Comprehensive Annual Modular (CAM) survey covered 3,02,086 households (1,73,096 in rural areas and 1,28,990 in urban areas) across India, except for some villages in Andaman & Nicobar.

Rural India has an 80% shortfall of specialist doctors. MP, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu worst off

Findings mentioned in Health Dynamics of India 2022-23 report released by health ministry. Data show that availability of specialists in urban areas was slightly better.

Indians buying smaller shampoo packs, less noodles & clothes. What’s halted FMCG sector’s revival

Fast-moving consumer goods companies, most of which derive big share of earnings from rural markets, struggling to meet sales targets. Consumers buying cheaper products, smaller packs.

How global media is seeing Modi’s Kyiv visit, from calling it ‘balancing act’ to a ‘placating’ agenda

International media also highlights how Indian women are often 'left to bear the burden of their own safety' and the thousands of deaths caused by lightning strikes in rural India.

On Camera

How Gen-Z is changing the violent extremist landscape online

The evolving extremist threat now hinges on young people online, demanding new strategies beyond traditional counter-terror models.

India’s urban co-op banks are turning the page—crisis to cautious revival, one metric at a time

With bad loans shrinking & capital buffers stronger, urban co-op banks’ new umbrella body NUCFDC is now prioritising rollout of digital transformation.

Greece looking at TATA’s WhAP infantry combat vehicle for army procurement

If deal goes through, Greece will be 2nd foreign country to procure vehicle. Morocco was first; TATA Group has set up manufacturing unit there with minimum 30 percent indigenous content.

A year-end Mea Culpa in National Interest—The Army-Islam combo doesn’t kill democracy

Many of you might think I got something so wrong in National Interest pieces written this year. I might disagree! But some deserve a Mea Culpa. I’d deal with the most recent this week.