-The Indian Express The IUCDs assume significance as birth spacing through family planning is considered an important intervention for maternal and neonatal health. Dindori: In early January, a 30-year-old woman gave birth to her second child. But dampening her joy was the realisation that a copper-based intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD) had been inserted in her body without her consent. The woman’s account is echoed by many others who allege that the IUCD, commonly...

-TheWire.in Farmers are unhappy with the lack of adequate government support and are likely to make it difficult for the BJP to return to power, especially in Rajasthan. New Delhi: On October 25, while addressing a rally in Jhalawar, Rajasthan, Rahul Gandhi spoke about garlic prices hitting rock-bottom in the region. Prices had fallen to Rs 2 a kilogram, he said. In madhya pradesh too, Gandhi spoke about falling garlic prices. In...

-Outlook India In the fertile farmlands of Mandsaur, political allegiance still grows tall. As does farmers’ discontent and anger. Tractor-trolleys laden with sacks of mostly soybean form a serpentine queue outside the foodgrain mandi in Mandsaur. Farmers make their way inside in ones and twos, unpack the bags and unload their produce among  growing mounds of soybean in the wide mandi yard. A reasonably good monsoon has ensured a bountiful harvest for...

For long, economists have argued among themselves whether income should be the only criterion for measuring poverty. After all, in real life a person can face multiple deprivations, say, in terms of access to education, health and living standards, among others. The multidimensional poverty index (MPI), which offers a valuable complement to traditional income-based poverty measures, was first introduced in the 2010 Human Development Report (HDR). The MPI looks at...

-The Hindu The exodus of migrant labour from Gujarat highlights the indifference of States to their well being and rights Gujarat is one of the top States in India that receive migrant workers, largely temporary and seasonal, on a large scale. In Gujarat, they work in unskilled or semi-skilled jobs in a wide range of activities such as in agriculture, brick kilns and construction work, salt pans and domestic work, petty services...