-The Times of India More newborns die on the first day in India than in any other country, according to the latest 'State Of The World's Mothers 2013' report. Every year, over 309,300 children (29% of global share) in India don't live beyond the first day because of complications associated with preterm birth, hygiene and maternal health. This makes India infamous for leading both maternal and new-born deaths globally. The report...

-Live Mint   Data from the 2008 Karnataka polls and the 2009 Lok Sabha elections reveal a small positive correlation Ever since the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) published its report on assets of candidates for the forthcoming assembly elections in Karnataka, there has been significant outrage in the mainstream media about the significant increase in declared assets of candidates who had also contested in 2008. Given this background, we thought it might...

-Live Mint Why do the central and state govts deliberately undermine the constitutionally created panchayats? The collector of any district in India would be heading 100 to 150 committees related to various development initiatives in the area. Collectors often don't get time to prepare for or preside over the meetings of these committees-imagine what happens to implementation then. On the other hand, the heads of district panchayats and municipalities in the...

-Live Mint Panchayat-related caste violence continues unabated and has become a part of the social reality today In ancient India, the panchayat system was based on the age-old caste system, social status and family. Although the local self-government concept was introduced in 1882, it took more than 100 years for the local self-government institutions to become a part of the Indian Constitution. While tremendous possibilities have been opened up in the...

-Live Mint Despite being declared unconstitutional by SC, ‘khaps' continue to hold sway in parallel with the state machinery Rohtak/Bhiwani: Ravinder Gehlawat and his wife Shilpa had been married for less than four months when they were marched out of their village-Dharana in Jhajjar district of Haryana-by men of the local community and warned never to return. Their fate was sealed on 24 April 2009 when the local khap panchayat, which translates...