-Hindustan Times Many face backlash and are boycotted from their communities for marrying outside their caste. With the social boycott bill, that came into effect last July, there is hope for the victims. Pune: On a cloudy Thursday morning in January, 1990, in Pune’s Cantt area, Umesh and Manju walked out of their homes separately — anxious and excited. After a month of waiting, the court had given them a date...

-The Hindu UHC provides the framework in which the issues of access, quality and cost can be integrated Three recent incidents involving the health-care sector in Delhi have sparked widespread outrage over the alleged mercenary motives and callous conduct of high-profile corporate hospitals. Two cases involved children with dengue who died soon after leaving these hospitals in a serious condition after their families were presented huge hospitalisation and treatment bills. The third...

-The Indian Express It can also mean other things such as currency shortage, transaction mode shift. The government has presented a lower cash-to-GDP ratio as a key achievement of demonetisation, and a measure of black money being checked. Economists, however, caution against reading this metric in Isolation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said last month that the cash-to-GDP ratio is down to 9% after demonetisation, from over 12% earlier. “Was it possible if a...

-The Hindu Business Line Price incentives for farmers should be followed up by better marketing infrastructure The Centre, while announcing the minimum support prices for the oncoming rabi season, has stuck to its policy of announcing moderate increases in the case of cereals, while promoting a shift towards pulses and oilseeds. MSP increases have moderated after 2013, after double-digit spurts that were the norm in the preceding four years. Hence, the rise...

-The Indian Express Farmers’ protests threaten the BJP’s rise. But local character, lack of ideological vision limit their potential. The protests by farmers in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh should not be seen in Isolation. Besides the political economy of these protests, the implications for competitive politics are going to be complex. In order to appreciate these implications, the farmers’ protests need to be situated in the larger backdrop — despite the...