-The Hindu Suicide has been part of everyday conversation in many living rooms, but there is little understanding of why it happens Everyone has opinions on why people they have never met, and do not know, kill themselves. I hear people say things like "what a cowardly thing to do," or "he was weak". The words are redolent of casual judgment, perhaps born out of familiarity and even fear: the thoughts that...

-The Hindu     The political executive and the permanent executive should realise they are public servants first and work in harmony to achieve the constitutional objectives There is a need to arrest the ‘laal batti' [red beacon] culture in public governance. The Supreme Court of India has been delivering a variety of judgments on matters of public governance, and these have been the subject of debate and discussion. Some of these related to...

-The Telegraph The 153-year-old law that criminalises gay sex is likely contributing to hidden depression and possibly even substance abuse among homosexuals, mental health professionals campaigning for its repeal have said. The experts have said the Supreme Court's ruling earlier this week re-criminalising gay sex could lead to a surge in depression levels across the community. They have cited international studies that point to higher levels of mental health problems among gay...

-The Times of India Commerce minister Anand Sharma deserves our sympathy. Driven by the way India's domestic politics is playing out, he is fast emerging as the person who has become the face of the country that, in Bali, threatens to kill WTO's Doha round after 12 years of fruitless negotiations. It need not be this way. India needs to show more flexibility at this moment as long-term consequences of a...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Trained health workers and even schoolteachers can provide effective care to patients with an array of mental disorders and make up for shortages of psychiatrists, medical researchers from India and Europe said on Wednesday. The researchers, who examined experiments done in 22 developing countries including India, have found that doctors, nurses and even lay health workers untrained in mental health or neurology can provide health care to mentally...