-The Indian Express   Political parties must do more than just pay lip service to universal healthcare in their election manifestos. The governance of the public health sector has become more complex than we imagine. To improve overall health, the sector will have to coordinate and collaborate with other sectors, nationally and regionally, and with several stakeholders. There is no sector that does not have an impact (positive or negative) on public health. What...

-The Hindu   ‘An offshoot of trickle-down urbanisation, census towns like Hatia and Hinjewadi can be engines of change for rural areas' Hatia, Ranchi: At the southern edge of Ranchi city lies Hatia, and not all of its residents are sure if theirs is a village or part of Ranchi city's sprawl into its surrounding rural areas. "It's still a village. The panchayat has the land records," says Santosh Majhi, standing by the side...

-The Hindustan Times Maharashtra: Vidarbha is an unforgiving place, parched, dry and restive. It is a place of waiting - for the rains, for dams, for a harvest that may never come. Lately, there's been a storm brewing in these 11 arid districts "All of Maharashtra is getting richer, but here in Vidarbha, everything is standing still," says Sachin Gawande, 30, a graduate and farmer from Risod town in Akola. "Ours remains...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Be it the urinal which saves 1,51,000 litres of water every year and draws out of the excrement phosphorus - a mineral which India imports - or the Rs 120 cholesterol test which otherwise costs Rs 5,800, or even the low-cost cellphone-size hemoglobin meter that must surely be a boon to a country in which an overwhelming proportion of maternal deaths result from malnutrition-triggered anemia,...

-The Times of India Elections, it is said, are about spending big. This despite repeated poll panel efforts to curb candidate expenses. The EC rule book is clear: Each candidate is entitled to spend a maximum of Rs 70 lakh and it is mandatory for the nominee to file daily expenses. On the ground, a different story plays out and contestants find ways to beat the book. Politicians begin spending the day...