-The Hindu Rights groups demand reopening of about 7.5 lakh pension accounts closed in Rajasthan Jaipur: After the Rajasthan government’s acceptance of wrong classification of living persons as “dead” and restoration of their social security pensions, civil rights groups here have demanded reopening of about 7.5 lakh pension accounts closed earlier and re-verification of about 10 lakh pensioners in the State. The physical verification by activists of the Right to Information Campaign and...

-HuffingtonPost.in Bindeshwar Sahu, a grain dealer, lives in Nauhar village in the Barheta panchayat of Bihar’s Banke Bazar block, a couple of hours away from the Buddhist township of Bodh Gaya. In early June, economists Jean Drèze and Reetika Khera, actively campaigning for the Right to Food Act, and their team of surveyors requested the Block Development Officer (BDO), Sanjay Kumar, to look into Nauhar’s persistent complaints of irregularities into the...

-The Hindu Why are children in Kerala’s Muslim-dominated Kozhikode and Malappuram districts dying of diphtheria? Propaganda by orthodox Muslim community leaders and alternative medicine practitioners that vaccination is un-Islamic is the main cause, reports Rajeev G.R. Her years of clinical experience had not prepared her for that damp, rainy night when death lingered in the air inside the operation theatre. As Mohammad Afzaz (14) desperately gasped for air, he told her, “You...

-The Times of India Bamnipal/ Sukinda: Between March and June this year, at least 12 children died in Nagada village, located in the forests of Odisha's Jajpur district. The underlying reason for their deaths was malnutrition, local medical authorities and community workers said. The village population is solely of the Juang scheduled tribe, one of India's ancient tribes, declared 'particularly vulnerable' by the government. For the past two months, a chicken pox...

-Civil Society Nalgonda (Telangana): Mamatha arrived at the Nalgonda District Hospital atop the fuel tank of her uncle’s motorcycle. She weighed just 650 grammes. She had been wrapped in a small sheet of cellophane and put in some kind of a folder. Her mother at that time was fighting for her own life after the premature delivery in the 28th week of her pregnancy. She had high blood pressure and was bleeding. The...