-Live Mint Lack of decentralization means municipalities lack power, resources to meet rising aspirations of ‘middle' India Othakadai, Madurai (Tamil Nadu)/Hubli (Karnataka): S. Paramasivam , president of the Othakadai panchayat, has big plans for his area. "Rainwater harvesting, removal of encroachments on roads, waste recycling, covered drainage, bigger primary health care centres and community parks," lists the 58-year-old, who has spent 30 years in the stainless steel business that dominates industry...

-The Times of India The present Lok Sabha could well end up with the dubious distinction of being the least productive in terms of business transacted among those that completed their full five-year terms. According to statistics compiled by the Lok Sabha secretariat, 1,157 hours of sittings had taken place until the 12th session of the 15th Lok Sabha, which was elected in May 2009. Among the Houses that completed five-year terms, the...

-The Hindu     The Bill is a slight improvement on a Private Member's Bill tabled in 2007 Varanasi (UP): Taking forward the movement on improving the plight of widows in the country, a Bill has now been drafted for the protection, welfare and maintenance of such women. The draft Bill prepared by Sulabh International seeks to provide for measures to be undertaken by the state for the protection, welfare and maintenance of neglected, abandoned...

-Economic and Political Weekly While the Supreme Court decision in the recent Novartis case has cleared the way for production of generic drugs in India, doctors have to prescribe cheaper alternatives to costly brands if patients with limited means are to benefit. What is being hailed as a victory in the struggle for affordable medicines in the country will actually be one only when there is a pro-patient slant to the...

-Live Mint   Panchayati raj minister V. Kishore Chandra Deo on how the system can function more effectively With the amendments that effected mandatory constitutional powers to panchayats and urban local bodies marking 20 years, V. Kishore Chandra Deo, Union minister for panchayati raj, acknowledged in an interview that the units of local self-governance could function more effectively. He also suggested that the three-tier system of panchayats could be improved to meet challenges...