Health authorities in India's rajasthan state are investigating allegations that 13 pregnant women died after they were given infected intravenous (IV) fluids at a government hospital. All the deaths were reported in Jodhpur city over the past 10 days. Laboratory tests had confirmed that IV fluids supplied by a local company were "tainted", officials said. A police case has been registered and an investigation has begun, they said. "The women died after severe haemorrhaging...

The promise of the FRA remains largely unfulfilled, says a committee set up by the Ministries of Environment and Forests and Tribal Affairs. IT seems hard for a government used to controlling most of India's common lands to let go of them. Even though it has passed a law mandating more decentralised governance of forests, the government itself is proving to be the biggest obstacle in its implementation. Other than in...

At least 100,000 trade unionists marched through New Delhi on Wednesday in a protest against high food prices and unemployment, piling pressure on an administration under fire over corruption scandals. The demonstration was the biggest in New Delhi in years and included members of a trade union linked to the ruling Congress party, reflecting disquiet within the party over food inflation which hit a high of over 18 percent last December. It...

Contaminated intravenous fluid has killed at least 12 pregnant women at Jodhpur's government-run Umaid Hospital in the last 10 days, according to hospital and police sources. Four more women were in a serious condition and had to be put on ventilators on Thursday. The hospital administration lodged a criminal case against the IV fluid manufacturer, Parental Surgical India Pvt Ltd (Indore), and the local distributor, Anshul Pharma, on Thursday as the...

In an attempt to deal with the use of black money in elections, the maximum poll expenditure for parliamentary constituencies has been increased to Rs 40 lakh and to Rs 16 lakh for assembly constituencies. Expenditure limit varies according to the size of states. On Wednesday, law ministry issued a notification amending the Conduct of Election Rules. At present, in big states, the upper spending limit in parliamentary constituency is Rs...