-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Fertilizer minister Srikant Jena may keep claiming that annually 30 lakh tonne of highly subsidized urea for agriculture is being smuggled to chemical factories, but the government says states have reported only 24 such cases since 2010-11. Jena had recently said at a conference of Indian Fertilizer Association (IFA) that there are serious signs of mismanagement in an information technology-driven era when targeted farmers can be...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The draft national policy on domestic workers, awaiting the Union Cabinet's nod, must be approved at the earliest. Activists and NGOs echoed this view at a panel discussion on Wednesday. "A national policy is the first step towards ensuring rights for domestic workers. It is also the first step before legislation is enacted. But despite our persistent efforts, progress is so slow," said Varghese Theckanath, convenor,...

-The Hindu Proposing a new "empowerment line" that aims to measure the minimum economic cost for a household to fulfil eight most basic needs, a global research organisation has estimated that 680 million Indians, or 56 per cent of the population, lacks the means to meet their essential needs. Health care, drinking water and sanitation between them account for nearly 40 per cent of the gap between their current status and the...

-Down to Earth RTI reponse of Union health ministry shows states with better health track record have reported higher number of vaccine deaths How accurate is the enumeration of deaths caused by the five-in-one pentavalent vaccine in India? Reports from different states show information about adverse events following immunization (AEFI) is not very reliable. It would be difficult to reach any conclusion about the efficacy of the vaccine on the basis of...

-The Hindu TISS chief seeks parity in trade tariff KASARAGOD (Kerala): With neo-liberal economic values holding increasing sway in contemporary society, India should strive to ensure a level playing field among nations to safeguard interest of small-time business groups and farmers in the country, Director of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) S. Parasuraman has said. "If you are talking about level playing field for all nations, after having become part of the...