-Live Mint India should encourage private Bills and strengthen the process of legislative approval for new laws Last week, we argued for two key reforms in Parliament's procedures that would enable members of Parliament (MPs) to be more effective as elected representatives: abolish the anti-defection law and record all votes on Bills and motions. We now discuss some possible changes that can be made to strengthen the process of lawmaking by...

-The Hindu   Only seven women have made it to Parliament from the State over the past 65 years. THIRUVANANTHAPURAM (Kerala): In all the elections held in Kerala, women have for outnumbered men in the State's electoral rolls, but their share in the electoral sweepstakes has been miniscule in both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. Only seven women have made it to Parliament from the State over the past 65 years, including Annie Mascarene,...

-The Business Standard Hailstorms may cause Rs 12k-cr crop damage, El Niño a bigger worry India's hope rally will be at risk if El Niño actually strikes this year. Even if a reformist government comes to power in May, global weather forecasts seem to suggest India is faced with the prospect of an erratic rainfall, as a result of the waters of the Pacific Ocean warming (known as the El Niño effect). It...

-The Hindu Computers are dumped in a corner, with no repairs or instructors: principal Hyderabad: Thousands of students in government-managed schools in the city continue to be deprived of computer education. The reason: computers remain Mere show pieces at these institutions for want of minor repairs and lack of instructors. All this when many private schools, including unrecognised ones, are alluring students by offering free computer studies, a fact that officials themselves admit. The...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: India's health ministry will tomorrow release the country's first-ever rulebook on tuberculosis that medical experts hope will help curb wrong treatment in the private sector and improve results in public-sector clinics. The Standards for TB Care in India (STCI) prescribe ways to diagnose and treat the disease, a bacterial infection that requires multiple drugs to be administered for at least six months - and up to two years...