-The Telegraph In a primary health centre in eastern Jharkhand, the angry shouts of a nurse punctuated the occasional wails of a woman in her early-20s who was in labour pain and only minutes away from delivering her baby. Each time a uterine contraction evoked a yell or a wail or the woman sought a more comfortable position during labour, the nurse or other health workers admonished her, asking her to shut...

-The Business Standard About 15 kms from the idyllic hilly town of Semiliguda in South Odisha’s Koraput district, the stage is set for an encore of the Niyamgiri-type agitation, as the tribals gather at the foothills of Mali Parbat to protest against bauxite mining by Hindalco Industries Ltd in the area. Sharing the concerns of the Dongria Kondh tribe at Niyamgiri, whose protests had put a halt to Vedanta’s bauxite mining plan...

-The Hindu In a far-reaching decision, the Rajasthan government has announced that a person below 18 years will be considered as a child labourer if he or she is employed. Accepting the long-pending demand of child rights groups, the government announced a comprehensive standard operating procedure (SOP) for identification, rescue, protection and rehabilitation of children employed in various occupations. The decision has come as a major triumph for advocacy groups seeking the abolition...

-The Business Standard Cautious optimism about the revival of the monsoon  A progressive improvement in the monsoon, after a dismal June that saw rainfall deficient by over 30 per cent, has eased some worries over kharif crop production. Since then the rainfall deficit has been halved to 15 per cent, dispelling fears of a situation as bad as in 2009, when severe drought lowered foodgrain production by seven per cent. In addition,...

-The Hindustan Times Under the cover of endorsing a proposal for the National Food Security Bill framed by an independent group of development economists, the government is all set to empty the Bill of any substance. Provisions relating to the Public Distribution System (PDS) will be reduced to a pointless reshuffling of existing foodgrain allocations to state governments, that too in favour of the richer states. And other entitlements, relating for...