-The Guardian  Use of Sodium Pentothal to secure confessions – classified by some as torture – still common in certain regions of India It is the sort of scene that belongs in a film noir, not a 21st-century democracy: an uncooperative suspect being injected with a dose of "truth serum" in an attempt to elicit a confession. But some detectives in India still swear by so-called narcoanalysis despite India's highest court ruling...

-The Telegraph Next time you take a 10-minute coffee break, spare a thought. By the time you come back refreshed, a mother would have died. India recorded 56,000 maternal deaths in 2010, according to a UN report, which makes it six every hour — or one every 10 minutes. The report, released in India on July 2, means that despite various schemes launched by the Centre and state governments, the number of deaths...

The railway ministry is helpless about the discomfort of railway passengers in reserved compartments who are outnumbered by passengers without tickets or with tickets meant for unreserved compartments   Last month, my friend’s daughter went on a trip to Corbett Park, which was organised by a Pune-based nature trail group. Although they had booked a Second Class (ordinary) reserved compartment, most of the 30-hour journey was spent in utter discomfort, with people...

-The Telegraph On a full-attendance day at a business process outsourcing centre in a village in Uttar Pradesh, 40 boys and girls work on computers, each of their desktops powered by rooftop solar panels that turn sunlight into electricity. Their workplace, a two-storey building, is the only structure in Sonari, a village of about 1,700 people and located about 50km from Lucknow on the road to Sitapur, where electricity is guaranteed nine...

-PTI Methane gas generated from human waste could be used to light up bio-toilets developed by scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation.  Acting on suggestions made by Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh, the premier research agency is now working to provide lighting solution for the convenience of those who will use bio-toilets in darkness.  "We are finding out the means to do it as the rate of production of...