-The Indian Express India's record is particularly distressing when it comes to representation of women in Parliament and their labour force participation. It is three years Wednesday, since the brutal Delhi gang-rape seared the country’s conscience. The outrage that followed led many to believe that this could be the catalyst that would bring about radical change in India’s endemic gender disparity. However, the recently-released Gender Inequality Index tells a sorry tale...

-The Indian Express Among South Asian countries, India fares better than only Afghanistan which is at 152. India ranks 130 out of 155 countries in the Gender Inequality Index (GII) for 2014, way behind Bangladesh and Pakistan that rank 111 and 121 respectively, according to data in the United National Development Programme’s latest Human Development Report (HDR) 2015. Among South Asian countries, India fares better than only Afghanistan which is at 152. The...

-Livemint.com In a paper released in ‘Lancet’, a team of researchers identified seven structural problems in India’s healthcare system Mumbai: Despite recording several gains in health in recent years, India continues to lag several health indicators such as mortality rates and malnutrition. The country carries a disproportionate burden of the world’s sick. Home to 17.5% of earth’s population, India accounts for 20% of the global burden of disease, 27% of all...

-DNA Despite a certain amount of progress in the past decade or so, the report points out glaring gaps in healthcare infrastructure in the country -- "low resource allocation, low emphasis on primary health care, poor utilisation of human resources," as Professor K Srinath Reddy, one of the co-authors said. Yet another report on India's troubled health care system pointed out the country's poor performance across health indicators, despite economic advantages....

-The Hindu New Delhi travelled to tribal heartland. The expert group offers hope; an opportunity to ensure that the tribals have a say in policies that are framed for them. Earlier this month, a motley group of 50 academicians, government officials and activists gathered at Shodhgram village in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district. This is an area known for malaria, malnutrition and Maoists, not necessarily in that order. Everyone left technology behind (mobile phones and...