-Down to Earth   All safe motherhood programmes of the government are focused on institutional deliveries, but health centres are in disarray. Experts suggest ways to reduce deaths during delivery Lal Mohan, a daily wage labourer, has no clue what took his wife's life. Sarita Devi, 25, was expecting her third child, and was on way to a good hospital at Bhagalpur district in Bihar. "She was normal all through the nine months...

-The New York Times   As politicians scramble for India's 815 million votes in the most expensive and closely contested general election in the nation's history, an unexpected protest is rumbling from what was once one of the country's most placid voter blocs: its farmers. The protest is inflamed by rising attention to the shocking suicide rate on India's hardscrabble farms. Since 1995, more than 290,000 farmers have killed themselves. Though that figure,...

-The Hindu   When an electoral system structurally discriminates against particular categories such as persons with disabilities, it is tantamount to a failure of the democracy as a whole The citizens of India are in the process of casting their votes in what is being widely hailed as the largest election in human history. By sheer size, the 16th Lok Sabha elections signal a triumph not only for India, but for democratic exercises...

-The Hindustan Times   New Delhi: The absence of an elected government in Delhi has seemingly slowed down the pace of several infrastructure, development and social welfare projects in the Capital. While the administration - under the Lieutenant Governor - has taken control of the day-to-day affairs and has managed to carry out "routine" work with ease, sources confirmed that several development projects, which require constant direction, coordination and monitoring, have lost pace. Construction...

-The Business Standard   It is not pro-farmer, provides for too many committees and too many approvals, says Amitabh Kant The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) will press to the next government for redrafting the recently enacted Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act. "The new (land acquisition) Act is extremely bureaucratic, with the introduction of a social impact assessment. It is not pro-farmer; it provides for too many committees and too many...