Concern: India's Maternal Mortality - Dying Of Indifference

One woman dies every eight minutes due to complications arising due to pregnancy such as sepsis, haemorrhage or obstructed labour. These deaths could be avoided if there is timely medical intervention.

It is estimated that 117,000 women die from pregnancy-related causes in India each year.With a rate of an estimated 450 deaths per 100,000 live births, India has the highest number of maternal deaths in the world. 

A 10 Month 'Girl Child' 'Health Fears' Weighs 'Three Stone'

A ten-month-old baby has weighed in at a whopping 2st 13lbs - making her one of the heaviest children in the world for her age.

Aliya Saleem, of Jharkhand, India, was born at a relatively large 9lbs, then began to rapidly gain weight from the age of four months - and is now as heavy as an average six-year-old girl.

Her parents are worried about her health, after another of their children died aged just one-and-a-half after gaining weight in a similar fashion.

Focus: Will 'Aam Aadmi Party' Deliver The True 'Swaraj'?

The initial euphoria over its emphatic electoral win over, the focus is now on realities within which the AAP will have to deliver on its promises. INNLIVE explores if the party can realise its vision of ‘swaraj,’ living up to the true ideals of decentralisation.

Ever since the AAP's win in Delhi, there have been a spate of articles on right wing websites, questioning the rationale of issues that form the core of the AAP's political ideologies.

Special Report: Trafficked Adivasi Tribal Girls In Jharkhand Forced To Surrogate, Deliver Babies For Sale

From the time she was 13, Phulmani (name changed) was forced to act as a surrogate mother and deliver six children by human traffickers from Jharkhand, widely considered a hotbed of modern day slavery.

Phulmani, now 31, was made to breastfeed the children – all born in consecutive years in Delhi – for about six months before giving them to the agents who sold them off.

The resident of Patru village in Gumla district was rescued by rights activists and returned to Jharkhand last year. Her experiences have left her emotionally and physically scarred.

Eye Doctor's Stomach Surgery, Woman Battling For Life

An ophthalmologist (eye doctor) left a young woman battling for life in Jharkhand’s Koderma district on Thursday night after he attempted surgery to remove a tumour from her stomach, a procedure he was not qualified to perform.

The family of 29-year-old Chandni Parveen said a contractual eye doctor with the state health department cut open her stomach at a private nursing home in Jhumri-Tilaya town and re-stitched it an hour later saying he was confused and unable to complete the operation.

Big Question: How 'Exit Polls' Changed The 'AAP Tsunami'?

Psephology is an inexact science, especially in a diverse voter population like that of India. Even so, one has to wonder whether all is right with the opinion polling industry where no one got it right this time in Delhi – except the broad point of a clear win for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

While one can leave pre-election opinion polls out of the analysis, since voter intent can change by voting day, the fact that even the exit polls got it all wrong is worrying.

Delhi Elections 2015: Why BJP May Not Win Delhi Polls?

It could not have got murkier than this and it could not have been more entertaining. The Delhi election campaign has all the masala associated with a ‘C’ grade Bollywood thriller — gimmicks, midnight exposés, political chicanery and below-the-belt attacks.

If certain poll surveys are to be believed, then the Aam Aadmi Party can easily be expected to cross the magic figure of 36 in the 70-member Delhi Assembly and stake claim to form a government in the city-state.

Modi Dominated 2014, But Can He Conquer 2015 As Well?

There is little doubt that one man dominated 2014 in India: Narendra Modi. But can he dominate 2015 as well? On recent form, we can’t be sure.

Let us first list his achievements so far. After a spectacular victory in May 2014, the Prime minister has been winning election after election for his party – the most recent one being Jharkhand - and has also restored the primacy of the PMO in policy matters. 

Why 2015 Will Be A Do-Or-Die For Narendra Modi?

There is little doubt that one man dominated 2014 in India: Narendra Modi. But can he dominate 2015 as well? On recent form, we can’t be sure.

Let us first list his achievements so far. After a spectacular victory in May 2014, the Prime minister has been winning election after election for his party – the most recent one being Jharkhand - and has also restored the primacy of the PMO in policy matters. 

If BJP Failed Miserably, Why Are TV 'Analysts' Miserable?

J&K and Jharkhand elections results: Expert analysts are so out of touch with reality that they beat Rahul Gandhi in not seeing the obvious contest.

Democracy is the worst form of government, except all those other forms that have been tried, so said Sir Winston Churchill. You would agree that there's nothing better than a system that gives people the right to choose the bad guys. It gives us elections that give us results that give us so many laughs. 

200 Days Of Modi Sarkar: The Good, Bad And The Ugly

The government needs to stay its course and carry on with the development agenda – steadily, even if a bit slowly.

I was unapologetic about rooting for Narendra Modi through his prime ministerial campaign - though I don't consider myself to be either a "Bhakt", as Modi fans are snidely called, or a "Hindutva" die-hard. Now even after seven months of his premiership I still believe he is the best we could have had. However, in the same vein, I am not an unqualified supporter of the BJP.

Big Worry: 'Household Debt Is Growing 10 Times In Metros'

India is slowly becoming a heavily indebted country with the average amount owed by each family jumping a whopping seven times in urban areas and more than four times in the hinterland during the period 2002 and 2012, shows a survey by the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO).

In 2012, as much as 22% of urban households were indebted and the average debt per family was Rs 84,625, up from Rs 11,771 in 2002, while in rural areas, 31% of households were indebted compared to 27% in 2002 with average debt rising to Rs 32,522 in 2012 from Rs 7,539 in 2002.

Why Kerala Is like Kuwait & Madhya Pradesh Is Like Haiti?

For its level of income, India, as well as many of its states, could do a much better job in taking care of their most vulnerable people.

American poet Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself”—“Do I contradict myself/ Very well then I contradict myself/I am large, I contain multitudes”—seems tailor-made for India. Which country can India be compared to, in economic terms? Is India’s level of economic development more or less like Vietnam’s, because their per capita incomes, in international dollars and in purchasing power parity terms, are almost the same?

Five Lakh For Christmas Conversion Mission: RSS Seeks Donations For 'Ghar Vapsi' Drive

Undettered by the backlash it is facing in Parliament, the Dharam Jagran Samiti, an offshoot of the RSS, is marching ahead to meet its target of 'converting' one lakh Muslims and one lakh Christians in a year.

To achieve this, the organisation is seeking massive funding from their well-wishers as the rate for conversion, according to this report, ranges from Rs 2 lakh for a Christian individual and Rs 5 lakh for a Muslim.

Think & Act: First Agra, Next Aligarh: Get ready For Your City For Hinduvta 'Reconversion Drive'

The issue of reconversion – or ghar wapasi -  as the proponents of the exercise would like to call it, is likely to keep western Uttar Pradesh on the boil for the rest of this year. After Agra, the Bajrang Dal and the Hindu Jagaran Manch are planning a similar campaign in Aligarh on Christmas day. The overt communal nature of the exercise is expected to have political repercussions too.

Although the Bharatiya Janata Party does not officially endorse such campaigns, one of its firebrand MPs, Mahant Adityanath of Gorakhpur better known as Yogi Adityanath, has been actively involved in such campaigns for many years.

Why The Central Security Forces Called 'Foster Forces'?

All 14 of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troops killed in the Maoist ambush on December 1 died on the scrubby, hill-ringed battleground, deep in the forests of Sukma district, at the southern tip of Chhattisgarh. The last to die was constable Deepak Kumar. The Maoists had struck between 10 and 11 am. It was 9:30 pm when Deepak died. For more than 10 hours, the 22-year-old lay there, helplessly wounded and heavily bleeding.

“Had a chopper arrived on time, he could have been saved,” says a CRPF commandant. An IAF chopper requisitioned by the CRPF did arrive for evacuation of the wounded—but only the next afternoon and at the Chintagufa camp, some 10 km from the ambush spot.

Liberals Beware: Modi Govt Is Sangh’s Stepping Stone To Social, Cultural Domination

The RSS has never had it so good since its inception in 1925. It has a government that is dominated by the BJP at the Centre. At least half of the council of ministers in the Modi regime have either emerged from the Sangh or are its supporters. 

And unlike another Sangh originate and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee---considered a moderate among hardliners--Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seen as an unadulterated embodiment of all that the Sangh stands for. Could the Sangh ask for more?

Exclusive: Loyal Congressman GK Vasan quits party after 14 years: Here's why Gandhis should be worried?

The first major fissure in the Congress has surfaced, with former minister GK Vasan all set to break away from the party to revive his father’s legacy and outfit, the Tamil Maanila Congress in Tamil Nadu. Vasan’s move may have its roots in the conviction of AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa who had to step down as chief minister thereby creating a politically fluid situation in which both the ruling party as well as the opposition DMK are in a state of flux.

"This has raised hopes in other parties and leaders who think they can create space for themselves in the state which was dominated by either the AIADMK or the DMK for close to half a century. This is the best opportunity to come their way. And this includes the BJP which is stands benefit the most from the situation in the state where it wants to set up its footprint," said a Congress leader.

Indian Society: An Interesting Interplay of Religion With Culture!

Alain de Botton, one of the best known intellectuals of Britain, suggests that in modern world, culture should have upper hand overreligion. Ultimately, he prescribes that the former should replace the latter in the longer run of the evolution of post-modern society.

It’s fascinating to see how far Alain’s ideas can go in an oriental society like India.Recently, I visited my native district, Deoghar, situated in Jharkhand to celebrate Durga-puja. What surprised me was not the scale with which the festivity was celebrated there, but with the degree of strictness that people still follow the religious rituals. Hardly one can identify any change in the methodology of worship over these years. Even, the animal sacrificeswithin the premise of goddess’ temple still happen uninterrupted. It made me think how strongly religion governs culture in our society. In other words, I saw Alain de Botton’s thesis failing in that small district of Jharkhand.

Security Personnel: The Planning For A 'Safe' Elections

By Likha Veer | INNLIVE Bureau

Politicians are busy either lauding or criticising Mr. Narendra Modi. We, the junta, are busy clicking selfies at poll booths. And the media is busy deciding if NDA will win over 300 seats or will AAP spoil everyone’s party. Amidst the entire hullabaloo what all of us have overlooked is the contribution of the security personnel deployed across the country.

The voting for 16th Lok Sabha elections has been split into 9 phases for a reason. This is arguably the largest democratic exercise in the entire planet, and ensuring it is safe and secure is a gargantuan challenge.