-The Hindu Even though fair elections are held at regular intervals for State Assemblies and Parliament, they do not reflect the true consent of the people because a large number of women are missing from the electorate On her arrival in India recently, the words of Gloria Steinem, American feminist and leader of the women's liberation movement, sounded like bells tolling for all women in today's modern Indian society. "I came [to...

-The Hindu Business school grad Ridhima Parvathaneni has put up a fight against numbers; numbers that indicate the alarming rate of malnutrition Despite shuttling between two states, Ridhima ensures that she wraps up work by Saturday night in order to let her hair down on Sunday. During the week, 22-year-old Satya Ridhima Parvathaneni is preoccupied with something unusual for a ‘work hard, party hard' youngster - a dream to reduce the number...

-Live Mint The scheme represents Rs.2.3 trillion spent on wasteful rural consumption This week marked the eighth anniversary of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's key rural intervention, launched in 200 districts initially in February 2006. To the extent that such populist schemes helped raise wages without raising productivity. They have contributed more to inflation than to rural wealth. Worse, such schemes have...

-The Hindu     The critical issue in India, where the pentavalent vaccine is being rolled out, is raising the coverage levels of immunisation "Immunisation is not an election issue. It should be." Seth Berkley, CEO, GAVI Alliance, is not known for mincing his words. Throw in the immense experience he brings in from the area of vaccination, and he is easily the most articulate global proponent of immunisation. In India recently to meet...

-The United Nations Global food prices declined for the first time in three months as lower prices for cereals, sugars, oils and meat outstripped gains in dairy values, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported today. The Rome-based agency said its Food Price Index averaged 203.4 points in January, which is 1.3 per cent below December and 4.4 per cent below January 2013. The Index measures monthly changes in international prices...