-IPSNews.net UNITED NATIONS: Millions of children still die before reaching their fifth birthday every year, according to the 2016 State of The World’s Children Report released here Tuesday by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The report, which is released annually, shows that a country’s income does not always determine progress in child mortality. Many poorer countries are outpacing their richer neighbours in reducing their mortality rates, and some rapidly growing economies –...

-The Times of India New Delhi: More than 30% of the ministers, in the enlarged council of ministers, have criminal cases pending against them while nearly all are crorepatis, according to analysis by Association for Democratic Reforms. About 24 of the 78 have declared criminal cases while 14 (18%) have serious criminal cases like rape, attempt to murder, communal disharmony, electoral violations against them. Out of the 78 ministers, 72 (92%) are crorepatis...

-The Indian Express The court ruled that more than 1500 cases of alleged fake encounters in Manipur in the last 20 years "must be investigated." New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday said that indefinite deployment of armed forces in the name of restoring normalcy under AFSPA “would mock at our Democratic process”, apart from symbolising a failure of the civil administration and the armed forces. The court also said that “ordinarily our armed...

-Livemint.com Economist Joseph Stiglitz says govt clampdown on NGOs such as Greenpeace and Ford Foundation and the JNU row shine a poor light on India globally Bengaluru: Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz has a blunt message for Prime Minster Narendra Modi: India has an image problem after the government’s clampdown on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and its actions against students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). “Some issues have got a lot of public...

-The Hindu Confining it to just the Ministry of Rural Development would be the most retrograde step in Democratic decentralisation in over a quarter century. If, as The Hindu’s exclusive on Wednesday indicates, Prime Minister Narendra Modi were to close down the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, it would confirm one’s worst fears about his government’s hypocritical approach to grass-roots democracy for grass-roots development. This was a lacuna that was evident in the ‘Gujarat...