-The Hindu The National Suicide Prevention Strategy must cascade down to every district The best first step towards addressing a malaise is to recognise that it exists. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s recently published National Suicide Prevention Strategy fits right there. It has been a long time coming, but the Strategy, finally in the public realm, calls attention to the massive burden of suicides in the country, and initiates steps...

-The Hindu Rates of fertility are falling fast enough in parts of India that population declines are on the horizon Two weeks ago, when the world population touched 8 billion, several headlines focused on how India was the largest contributor to the last billion and is set to surpass China as the world’s most populous nation by 2023. China’s population has begun to decline, while India’s population is expected to grow for...

-Hindustan Times In their plea, former bureaucrats MG Devasahayam, Somasundar Burra, and Aditi Mehta referred to the Registration of Electors Rules that allow the Registration Officer to entertain any objection, hold a summary inquiry and rectify any errors without hearing or notifying the affected party. The Supreme Court has directed the Centre and the Election Commission of India (ECI) to respond in four weeks to public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the rule...

-Hindustan Times Successive governments have “completely destroyed” the independence of the Election Commission of India (ECI) by ensuring no chief election commissioner (CEC) gets the full six-year term to head the poll body since 1996, a Constitution bench in the Supreme Court lamented on Tuesday, adding that absence of a law for appointment of election commissioners (ECs) has resulted in an “alarming trend”. The five-judge bench further remarked that the silence of...

-Deccan Chronicle Mumbai: The Reserve Bank Of India is concerned about the slow deposit growth and how banks would support double-digit credit growth amidst tightening liquidity. The issue was discussed on Wednesday when RBI governor Shaktikanta Das met managing directors and chief executive officers of public sector banks and key private sector banks. A banker who attended the meeting said, "It was a routine meeting that takes place half yearly. We discussed...