-Down to Earth A study conducted in public health centres in Uttar Pradesh shows complying to essential childbirth practices did not significantly alter maternal and perinatal mortality & maternal morbidity Despite improvements in the quality of care during labour and delivery, checklists and coaching interventions failed to reduce maternal and neonatal deaths during childbirth, shows a study published on December 14 in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study was conducted...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Up to 55% of court time is spent by judges each day on tasks such as reissuing summons, fixing dates for future hearings and case administration decisions rather than judicial functions such as hearings, a nationwide Survey conducted by Bengaluru-based Daksh has found.   The study analysed over 91,000 court hearings involving over 6,000 cases across the country and argued that even without more manpower, the judiciary...

-TheWire.in Doctors and activists found a higher than normal incidence of tuberculosis, mental illnesses and arthritis-like joint pains, even among people below the age of 30. Tired, ghoulish bodies moving around in a field of ash casting a blanket of sameness against vast, black mines, broken now and then by the bright yellow of scorching fires – this is what a coal mine looks like. Lighting up the nation comes at a...

-The Financial Express Not very long ago—indeed, in July this year—the government had insisted that MGNREGA, as per the findings of independent studies, had helped reduce seasonal migration. To a question on what the government was doing to stop distress migration, the junior minister for rural development, Ram Kripal Yadav, had told the Rajya Sabha that the government has increased the number of guaranteed days of work under the rural jobs...

-Livemint.com The malnutrition burden in India remains high despite some progress and there is tremendous inter-state and inter-district variability, the district wise nutrition profiles show New Delhi: The government’s flagship program National Nutrition Mission (NNM) has a clear picture of the challenges it faces in dealing with malnutrition after the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) on Wednesday released nutrition profiles of all states and 640 districts of India. The malnutrition burden in...