-The Hindustan Times   An increasing number of candidates facing criminal charges are being fielded by India's political parties at all levels of elections, including state polls, data from over a 10-year period shows. Underlining the seriousness of the issue, two new studies suggest stronger correlation between wealth, crime and winning ability. Overall 17% of the candidates contesting the 2014 elections have a criminal background, up from 15% in 2009, when the previous...

-Live Mint   A key reason for the surge in anti-incumbency faced by UPA has been its failure to curb inflationary pressures New Delhi: A key reason for the surge in anti-incumbency faced by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) has been its failure to curb inflationary pressures for most of the regime's second tenure. While inflation based on wholesale prices averaged 6.1% during UPA-1 (2004-2009), it was a percentage point higher at 7.1%...

-The Times of India   BANGALORE: It's been a year since the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act was passed; one of Parliament's several responses to increasing attacks on women. The act has been described by some as one of the most exacting in the world, especially with regard to the responsibilities it places on employers. To understand what has changed since the act came into being, TOI spoke to a...

-Deccan Herald   Chennai: Once the source of her livelihood, the farmland 51-year-old Vellamal owns in Kallupatti village near Tamil Nadu's Karur district has gone completely dry in the last one year due to monsoon failure. The rapidly depleting groundwater forced her to abandon agriculture and Vellamal, left high and dry, signed up to Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). Now, the scheme feeds her entire family. As Deccan Herald toured...

-Down to Earth   Study published in The Lancet indicates what the country will need to spend to provide basic cancer screening and care to patients A report published in the international journal, The Lancet, has drawn attention to poor infrastructure and treatment facilities for cancer patients in India, which is leading to high cancer mortality. To deliver even a basic cancer screening and treatment package in rural India, 15 states would need to...