After Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan declared 2012 as the year of family planning, some district collectors seem to have tossed the rule book to the winds to meet their targets. Such has been the zeal among the officials to bring more and more people under the scalpel that they are luring and misguiding protected tribals with dwindling population into sterilization. From aanganwadi workers to tehsildars and village 'patwaris',...

After Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan declared 2012 as the year of family planning, some district collectors seem to have tossed the rule book to the winds to meet their targets. Such has been the zeal among the officials to bring more and more people under the scalpel that they are luring and misguiding protected tribals with dwindling population into sterilization. From aanganwadi workers to tehsildars and village 'patwaris', everyone...

Maharashtra Minister launches “Save the Girl Child” campaign to curb sex-selective abortions In a packed cultural hall in Chandrapur, poor acoustics did not take away from a serious play on female foeticide. The voices of the actors went high and low as mikes were pushed hastily towards them. At the end of the play, there was a poignant appeal from an unborn girl who asked for a chance to live. On Sunday...

Madhya Pradesh is betting cash incentives will curb population growth and improve the ‘life cycle’ of the girl child, but experts question the efficacy of such policies in addressing deep-rooted social prejudices Visitors trudging down the dusty village road are greeted by a giant billboard featuring a smiling Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, hugging two young girls. The tagline in Hindi reads: Gaon ki beti, kisse chhoti...

Medicine heals, but this fact doesn`t hold true for every 300th patient admitted to hospital. Call it the law of averages or blame human error for it, but the World Health Organization believes that one in 10 hospital admissions leads to an adverse event and one in 300 admissions in death. An adverse event could range from the patient having to spend an extra day in hospital or missing a dose...