-The Guardian A spike in prices caused by poor harvests and rising demand is an apt moment for the west to reassess the wisdom of biofuels The last decade saw the end of cheap oil, the magic growth ingredient for the global economy after the second world war. This summer's increase in maize, wheat and soya bean prices – the third spike in the past five years – suggests the era of...

-Frontline A study finds that institutional support alone cannot help reduce maternal mortality in India.  THE high rate of maternal mortality in India has been a cause for national concern, especially on account of the focus on reaching the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Although there is a growing realisation that it will be difficult to meet the MDG targets by that deadline, there is a renewed interest in the...

-The Hindustan Times A new proposed bill aims to provide relief to mentally ill patients across the country. Prepared by the law and health ministries, it will ensure that patients are not dumped in hospitals and mental asylums for more than six months or given electric shocks without their prior consent. The Mental Health Care Bill, which seeks to update India’s 25-year-old law in accordance with the United Nations’ conventions, calls...

-PTI The United Nations Population Fund will participate in women empowerment schemes in Madhya Pradesh, fund's country head Fredrica Major has said. Terming them as wonderful, Major lauded the women welfare programmes being conducted in the state, during a meeting with Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan here last evening, an official release said today. Chouhan informed her about the 'Beti Bachao Abhiyan' (save the girl child campaign) and various women empowerment schemes going...

-The Hindu Stereotypical government policies and global approaches persist in family planning programmes. Urmila is a 40-year-old domestic worker in western Uttar Pradesh. The mother of six children, all girls, she is now pregnant again and is keen on carrying on with the pregnancy. Her husband is unemployed and is an alcoholic. His relatives have assured her that they will help her to bring up the child and have also hinted...