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Home / Author / Ramanan Laxminarayan

Ramanan Laxminarayan

Ramanan Laxminarayan

Articles by Ramanan Laxminarayan

When the exam room is an oven

If a child scoring in the 60th percentile took the same test at 40°C instead of 30°C, the heat alone could lower their effective performance to the 40th percentile. In our system, where a few marks determine admission to professional colleges, half a standard deviation is all the difference in securing a college admission. (HT Archive)

Updated on May 14, 2026 18:01 IST

India’s antibiotic crisis has a vaccine solution

India must expand its vision to address drug-resistant infections, which requires vaccinating not just children, but adults also. (HT Archive)

Updated on May 7, 2026 16:01 IST

India’s dual opium crisis

Tramadol — marketed as non-addictive — has flourished precisely because it fell outside the strict controls on classical opioids. But the drug is widely abused. (Reuters)

Updated on May 1, 2026 09:00 IST

India’s food security is largely dependent on the Persian Gulf

The Green Revolution was India’s first independence from famines and food shortages. Our second Green Revolution will have to focus on independence from the unpredictable and uncontrollable politics of West Asia. (AFP)

Updated on Apr 24, 2026 02:30 IST

The climate game India cannot afford to lose

The current instability of global oil markets makes this precisely the moment to lean into the energy transition rather than away from it. (AP)

Updated on Apr 17, 2026 11:49 IST

India needs a national development corps

India’s demographic dividend can well become its Achilles heel and lead to significant unrest if not managed carefully. A young population can accelerate growth or strain institutions depending on whether credible pathways to purpose exist. (PTI)

Updated on Apr 9, 2026 15:54 IST

The diaspora’s potential, beyond just remittances

India’s technology sector, the pride of the post-liberalisation economy and the country’s single largest source of foreign exchange, exported roughly $200 billion in software and services in FY2024. (HT Archive)

Updated on Apr 2, 2026 15:35 IST

Sanitation security and kidney stones in women

Research on sanitation insecurity in India has found that women often deliberately reduce water consumption or delay urination because toilets are distant, unsafe, or lack privacy. Surveys conducted after household toilets were installed have found that a large majority of women reported no longer needing to restrict food or water intake once a private toilet became available. (Shutterstock)

Updated on Mar 20, 2026 09:07 IST

Long shadow of public health’s colonial legacy

The medical services of the Armed Forces trace directly to the colonial Indian Medical Service — primarily designed to safeguard British troops. Its origin dates back to the formation of the Bengal Medical Service in 1763. (HT Archive)

Updated on Mar 12, 2026 15:23 IST

Life After 65: India’s Next Development Frontier

A healthier 65-year-old is less likely to require years of dependency. The cheapest pension reform is disease prevention. The most sustainable social security system is one in which older adults remain functionally independent for longer. (HT Archive)

Updated on Feb 27, 2026 14:36 IST

India’s slow-motion arsenic tragedy

Individuals exposed to higher arsenic concentrations had significantly elevated risks of death — not only from cancers of the lung, bladder and skin, but also from cardiovascular diseases. (HT Archive)

Updated on Feb 20, 2026 24:47 IST

Why India must now bet big on animal vaccines

For millions of households, livestock are living savings accounts. A cow or a few goats are sold to finance school fees, medical care, or to buffer against crop failure. But livestock are also fragile assets. (HT Archive)

Updated on Feb 12, 2026 15:58 IST

Taxing tobacco: The case for higher rates and wider coverage

Making products that kill people steadily less affordable is not a distraction from development. It is an important step towards Viksit Bharat. (Reuters)

Updated on Feb 6, 2026 02:30 IST

Reform Agricultural Subsidies to Improve Climate Resilience and Health

Without a subsidy system skewed towards rice, wheat and sugar, farmers will shift to growing millets, agro-dairy and fruits and vegetables, where these are appropriate to their land. (AP)

Updated on Jan 23, 2026 07:44 IST

India Is Growing, But Are Indians Flourishing?

Students in India report higher flourishing than those who are employed, a pattern shared with Japan, Kenya, and some other countries. At a moment when job markets are tightening and aspirations rising, the transition from education to employment appears to be associated with a drop in well-being. (HT Archive)

Updated on Jan 16, 2026 02:00 IST

Learning from Singapore to realise Viksit Bharat

Singapore offers a reminder that development is not built on infrastructure and growth alone. If Viksit Bharat is to be more than a slogan, economic ambition must be matched by social architecture. (Praful Gangurde / HT Photo)

Updated on Jan 9, 2026 08:05 IST

Why the 1993 World Development Report Still Matters for India

Health investment is economic strategy, not charity. Poor health among the poorest imposes economy-wide costs — lost productivity, fragile human capital, and higher long-term dependency (HT Archive)

Updated on Jan 2, 2026 08:17 IST

Drinking water from the tap as a true measure for development

The first requirement of any modern city is a continuous, uninterrupted supply. Yet, every Indian summer brings the same ritual: tankers lining up, resident welfare associations negotiating contracts, and households rationing a resource that should never be rationed in an urban economy. (HT Archive)

Updated on Dec 26, 2025 02:30 IST

Can Ayurveda serve population health?

Insights from Ayurveda can inform better public-health approaches tailored to regional needs or to population sub-groups. These approaches require evidence — but evidence suited to complexity

Updated on Dec 19, 2025 04:50 IST

Viksit Bharat goal needs investing more in health

Life expectancy at birth is one measure of health. India’s life-expectancy goals are ambitious but unevenly grounded in current trends. (HT Archive)

Updated on Dec 11, 2025 15:59 IST

India’s drug regulation is stuck in a time warp

India has an estimated 10,500 pharmaceutical manufacturing units, yet only about 1,300 comply with the WHO’s good manufacturing practices (GMP). (Shutterstock)

Updated on Oct 13, 2025 15:11 IST

Focus on rabies control, not stray dog population

The seeds of the current situation were sown by the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2001 (updated in 2023) that prevents rabid dogs from being euthanised. (ANI)

Updated on Aug 17, 2025 15:15 IST

The health leadership opportunity for India

(FILES) This photograph taken on December 2, 2021, shows a sign of the the World Health Organization (WHO) next to theirs headquarters, in Geneva. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP) (AFP)

Updated on Jan 23, 2025 14:47 IST

Vaccine stockpile could help in battling bird flu

FILE PHOTO: Researchers wearing protective suits collect samples of wildlife, where the H5N1 bird flu virus was detected, at Chilean Antarctic Territory, Antarctica, in this undated handout photo obtained by Reuters on March 13, 2024. Instituto Antartico Chileno/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES/File Photo

Updated on May 11, 2024 16:40 IST

Rational taxation can help improve health

Bidis are consumed widely, but the tax burden is low. A 20% tax-induced price increase in bidis could lead to seven million years of life gained (YLG) over 15 years and an increase in government tax revenues by <span class='webrupee'>₹</span>34,820 crore over the same period (AP)

Updated on Jan 30, 2023 14:33 IST

The clear and present threat of antibiotic resistance

The past few G20 summits have consistently highlighted antibiotic resistance as a key problem that requires global cooperation. India can lead on this issue given its seat at the head of the G20 table.

Updated on Jan 5, 2023 14:44 IST

Time will reveal value of India’s lockdown

Lockdowns changed the shape of epidemic not just in India but around the world.

Updated on Apr 24, 2020 24:11 IST

Covid-19 endgame: How India could move from lockdowns to disease control

A farmer carries cattle feed on his cycle in Jalandhar on Sunday.

Updated on Apr 13, 2020 03:59 IST

State-wise shutdowns may be only way to prepare for spike in Covid-19 | Opinion

A view of a deserted road at Hussainabad in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, during the Janta Curfew on Sunday, March 22, 2020.

Updated on Mar 23, 2020 01:43 IST

Covid-19: A response now will help mitigate impact | Opinion

China could exert an unprecedented degree of State control. India does not lend itself to that as a society. This makes individual precaution necessary to control the outbreak

Updated on Mar 9, 2020 13:18 IST

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