-The Hindu The power of the bicycles to confer economic and social freedom even in the age of the automobile remains undiminished. Bihar is using it to cut the dropout rate for girls. Bicycles and safe roads are a winning combination. While she was on her way to school one morning, Smriti's bicycle brushed against a speeding truck, and she fell to the ground. After a few stitches on her injured elbow,...

-The Hindu Bangalore: Ninety-two-year-old midwife Narasamma from Krishnapura village of Pavagada taluk has been chosen for a national award for carrying out 1,500 deliveries in remote areas. Announcing this at a press conference in Bangalore on Thursday, Minister of State for Women and Child Welfare Umashree said the award being given by the Union government on the International Day of Older Persons on October 1 in New Delhi carries a cash prize...

-The Hindu Lax monitoring, poor public engagement and inadequate training to vaccinators have dealt a serious blow to the crucial pentavalent immunisation programme The Pentavalent vaccine, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's latest addition to the immunisation programme, has run into a storm. The Supreme Court has sent a notice to the Ministry asking why the vaccine should not be banned in the country. The vaccine is no stranger to controversy. A...

-The Hindu Lack of harmonisation of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 with those meant to protect children from sexual abuse has put gynaecologists in a fix. The abortion law guarantees absolute confidentiality to a woman irrespective of her age, while the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 and the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 2013 - put in place after the horrific gang-rape of the 23-year-old girl in Delhi...

-NDTV The debate on the merits and demerits of the National Food Security Bill went on for months. But most of it seems disconnected to the reality on the ground to the churning lakhs of low income families are experiencing as they register for the new scheme. There is anxiety and desperation to get subsidised foodgrain. In the office of the Food and Supply Officer in Delhi's north east district, many have...