-The Indian Express The aftermath of the terrible deaths of women who underwent sterilisation surgeries in Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh has been full of stories about what actually happened. Spurious drugs and an overenthusiastic doctor who cut corners on ensuring quality vie for immediate blame. Beyond these, many have spoken about pervasive biases of gender and caste that wreak havoc on the lives of poor women, and also of family planning policies...

-The Hindu Tamil Nadu has come to realise in a most tragic manner the high mortality risk faced by preterm babies (those born before 37 completed weeks of gestation), and its unfinished task of saving these lives. Of the 13 neonates who died recently in district hospitals in Dharmapuri and Salem, five were preterm. Both preterm and low birth weight babies have died of the usual causes, such as respiratory...

-The Indian Express The tragedy of several women dying after undergoing sterilisation operations in the Bilaspur district of Chhattisgarh has once again thrown up uncomfortable questions around India's population programme. Although the cases are being investigated and the exact cause of the deaths has not been ascertained, the incident brings to light the abysmal conditions in which women are compelled to accept government-provided contraception. India is a signatory to an agreement at...

-The News Minute The use of plastic or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles for packaging medicines such as syrups and liquid orals has been banned by the government. Reports say that this ban will lead a price hike for certain drugs meant for children, women and senior citizens. According to a Times of India report SV Veeramani, president, Indian Drug Manufacturers Association (IDMA) confirmed the move, "There would be estimated 25-30% cost increase...

-The Hindu Dharmapuri (Tamil Nadu): An emaciated Kumudha looks the very symbol of women who have no reproductive agency or bodily rights, one of the many reasons for the neonatal deaths that occurred at the government hospital here last weekend. A week after losing her two-day-old son to preterm-low birth weight complications, Kumudha just returned home after administration of intravenous fluids at the primary health centre at Palayamapudur, some six km from...