-The Hindu One of the most prominent features of India’s middle-class-driven public culture has been an obsession about our GDP growth rate, and a facile equation of that number with a sense of national achievement or impending arrival into affluence. In media headlines, political speeches, and everyday conversations, the GDP growth rate number — whether it is five per cent or eight per cent or whatever — has become a staple...

-Economic and Political Weekly The vigorous public discourse following the recent brutal gang rape and mutilation of the 23-year-old in Delhi is a positive sign but hopefully the demand for quick solutions will not ignore the complexities involved in dealing with all forms of violence against women. There are also other connected issues that require urgent attention including the description of a rape as a "state worse than death", making out...

-The Times of India High blood pressure (BP) has become the world's deadliest disease-causing risk factor. But for Indians, indoor air pollution (IAP) — emanating from chulhas burning wood, coal and animal dung as fuel — has been found to be a bigger health hazard for Indians. The first-ever estimates of the contribution of different risk factors to the global burden of disease between 1990 and 2010 has found that household air pollution...

-The Times of India Condom use among men in India is falling drastically — a dangerous trend for the country's already swelling population. The Union health ministry has found that out of 34 states, 22 states have recorded a major dip in condom use in 2010-11 as against the previous year. The five states with the highest overall dip in condom use has been the Andaman and Nicobar islands (50%), Madhya Pradesh (39%),...

-Outlook Porbandar (Gujarat): Gangs and musclemen could play a dominant role in elections in some assembly constituencies of Bhavnagar, Porbandar, the birthplace of apostle of non-violence Mahatma Gandhi, and Rajkot districts of Saurashtra region of Gujarat. Porbandar has been a hotbed of criminal activities in recent times where late Santokben Jadeja had emerged as 'Godmother'. Ganglords of Porbandar are once again are in electoral fray. Another constituency where political power has been shaped...