-Livemint.com The demonetisation sop is a unique opportunity to evolve the maternal and child health agenda into a universal Maternity Benefits Programme in the budget In an unexpected twist, demonetisation has spurred Prime Minister Modi into championing the cause of maternal and child health (MCH) in India. On 31 December, pregnant women in India were the surprise beneficiaries of post demonetisation sops as the PM committed his government to fulfilling one of...

-Hindustan Times Delhi: Former Secretary-General of United Nations (UN), Kofi Annan, has commended Delhi government’s flagship Mohalla Clinic project that is aimed at providing free primary healthcare to city residents closer home. In a letter on January 25 to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in capacity as chair of The Elders, an organisation of independent global leaders founded by Nelson Mandela, Annan also shared suggestions that could help reform the project and...

-The Times of India For the state government, the protection and preservation of indigenous bulls is not a swift goal formed out of the jallikattu row, but a mandate under Article 48 of the Constitution of India. In the last few weeks, an argument that has repeatedly articulated itself is that the ban on jallikattu will decimate Tamil Nadu's indigenous cattle breeds. However, jallikattu is just one of the determining factors...

Against the backdrop of drought that affected most states in the past 2 years, it is essential to take a look at a report on improving water governance in the country, which was submitted to the Ministry of Water Resources in July, 2016. That report, which was prepared by the Committee on Restructuring the Central Water Commission (CWC) and Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) under the chairpersonship of Dr. Mihir...

-Caravan Magazine Since the Aadhaar programme, which aims to provide Indian citizens with unique identification numbers, was launched in 2009, several petitions have been filed before the Supreme Court that oppose its application by the government. These petitions have challenged the Aadhaar programme on various grounds: the government’s right to ask the citizens to provide biometric data for Aadhaar verification without adequate safeguards against its potential misuse; the legality of the...