-IPS News SUNDARBANS: November is the cruelest month for landless families in the Indian Sundarbans, the largest single block of tidal mangrove forest in the world lying primarily in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. There is little agricultural wage-work to be found, and the village moneylender's loan remains unpaid, its interest mounting. The paddy harvest is a month away, pushing rice prices to an annual high. For those like Namita Bera,...

-Down to Earth Chhattisgarh's much appreciated public distribution scheme is falling apart due to corruption and mismanagement As chhattisgarh prepares for panchayat election at the end of the year, the fate of ration card holders in the state is in limbo. During a verification drive in July-August, the state government found almost 1.3 million "unnecessary" ration cards in the possession of people. These cards have been taken back by the government and...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The government is likely to roll out its much touted National Health Assurance Mission (NAHM) in January, promising health insurance for all. The PMO last week asked the health ministry to work out the modalities of the scheme as well as revamp the existing Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) to expand its span to include universal coverage, said an official. RSBY, currently managed by the labour...

-NDTV The Chhattisgarh government is guilty, at the least, of culpable homicide for the deaths of over a dozen women in government-run sterilisation camps in the last few days. But the government and in particular the Health Minister think they can escape from their own responsibility by arresting the doctor who did the operations and setting up a judicial enquiry. Really? You need a judicial enquiry to tell you that the targets you...

-CNN-IBN Gandhinagar (Gujarat): A report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, tabled before the Gujarat Assembly on Tuesday, notes that more than 5,000 Anganwadi centers in the state did not have toilets as of the last year. The BJP government tabled the audit report on local bodies for the year ended on March 2013 on Tuesday, the last day of the legislature's session. The performance audit of 'total sanitation campaign'...