-The Hindu While the rates of sexual violence in India - both reported in official statistics and unreported on the basis of household surveys - are towards the lower end of the global spectrum, data on women's autonomy in India indicate that there is a hidden emergency Having opened up a fresh conversation about the situation of women since the December 16, 2012 gang rape, has India done enough to address the...

-The Indian Express Universal health coverage (UHC) is at the heart of the government's healthcare agenda. The 12th Five Year Plan targets a long-term goal of UHC where "each individual would have assured access to a defined essential range of medicines and treatment at an affordable price, which would be entirely free for a large percentage of the population". But this year's reduced budgetary allocation raises troublesome questions about its ability...

-The Hindu The Budget overlooks the fact that human capabilities are as important as physical capital for economic growth and the quality of life. It goes back to the days when growth and development sounded synonymous, physical capital was thought to be the key, and human capital took a back seat Once upon a time, around the end of the Second World War, there was a naive view in development economics that...

-Hindustan Times Karnal: A day after a 35-year-old man, Satpal Kashyap, died after being hit by a police vehicle in the convoy of chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, the deceased's family claimed that timely medical aid could have saved his life. The deceased, a daily wage earner from Pakhana village, was the sole breadwinner of the family and is survived by his wife and four school-going children. Karnal superintendent of police Abhishek Garg...

-The Telegraph Patna: Chief minister Nitish Kumar today charged the Centre with abolishing the Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) in "clear violation" of the Act mandated by Parliament and said he was thinking of moving court against the decision. "I met Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on February 26 and specifically apprised him that the BRGF abolition was in contravention of the Bihar Reorganisation Act, 2000. The special assistance under BRGF had...