-The Hindu There is no organised conspiracy against NGOs. It is in the nature of power to exercise greater control, and exempt itself from accountability. The recent changes in the rules governing foreign funding of NGOs under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) have been widely discussed. The last word on it will perhaps never be written. The UPA government initiated this and we see some concrete changes now. Sifting through the...

-The Hindu An enriched soil has withstood the vagaries of monsoon and a depleting ground water table to provide an enviable sugarcane yield in a farm in Puliangudi of Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu. Sustained attention given to soil health using organic inputs has enabled V. Antonisamy reap 65 to 70 tonnes of sugarcane per acre in his farm. Explaining the methodology adopted to enhance soil quality, Mr. Antonisamy, who has been...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The health ministry's proposals to amend the abortion law have contradictory clauses that could force women to take unjustified decisions about their foetuses, a Mumbai gynaecologist said today, echoing concerns shared by other doctors. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971 prohibits abortion after 20 weeks of gestation. But the ministry, in a draft document released last year, has proposed changes to make the duration of pregnancy...

-Scroll.in The government is yet to frame policies on how to tackle severe acute malnutrition but non-profits have started experimenting with community-based models. Nurses call him "the boy who lived." Severely dehydrated, unconscious and weighing no more than two kilos, lighter than a healthy new born, one-year-old Subhash was brought to the Darbhanga Medical College in Bihar in February. Admitted to Malnutrition Intensive Care Unit, he was administered glucose, therapeutic milk...

-Business Standard The World Bank's latest report "Mind, Society and Behaviour" calls for re-designing development policy based on a more realistic understanding of how human beings think and behave. The lead author of the report, Varun Gauri, was in New Delhi and spoke to Anjuli Bhargava on the thinking behind the report and what India can do with it. Edited excerpts: * Right from the cover design to the title, this report...