India's 'Summer' Has Become Worst In Last Two Decades

The sweltering heat continues to rise in India—as does the death toll. More than 2000 people have now died due to the scorching heat, mostly in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. And, while this isn’t the deadliest of heat waves in recent years, Indian summers are becoming more severe, longer, and more frequent.

India’s “high temperature” (HT) days—with a maximum temperature of more than 37 degrees Celsius between the months of March and June—have sharply risen over the last four decades, according to a 2015 report by three Indian meteorological department scientists.

Special Report: Brain Behind Modi's 'Chai Pe Charcha', Coins 'Nashte Pe Charcha' For His Rivals

On April 8, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was busy launching Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana in New Delhi, a few kilometres away his chief strategist and blue-eyed boy Prashant Kishor was busy in a presentation. 

The power-point presentation 'Citizen's Alliance' was for Modi's key opponent Nitish Kumar's election campaign for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections. The state is slated to go for polls in September-October this year.

Deadly Mutant Killer Malaria Strains Enters India: Experts Alarmed As Drug-Resistant Parasite Enters From Myanmar

Now this is another deadly bite to worry about, more so because the antimalarial drugs available in India may soon lose their teeth against the vector-borne disease, like in Myanmar and Cambodia. 

In the first research report on drug-resistant malaria from India, scientists at the National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR) have traced a mutation in the disease-causing parasite. 

Eat Your Way With These 14 Varieties Of Indian Mangoes

It’s that time of year when everything is bathed in a warm, fuzzy, honey glow and there’s a sweet fragrance in the air. That might be partly due to summer setting in across India but it’s also because the best (and India’s national) fruit is making the rounds. 

For most Indians, summer is synonymous with mangoes; climbing trees to pluck those sunshine-coloured fruits or watching our grannies prepare mango pickles for the year. Mangoes are a habit that many of us find hard to give up.

Why Gujarat Isn’t The Financially Perfect State In India?

Many claims that Gujarat is the financially perfect state. But reality differs. 

On top of the list of India’s financially best managed states is an unlikely winner—Chhattisgarh, an underdeveloped but resource-rich state that has outperformed some of the country’s most industrialised provinces.

“The relatively new and small mineral-rich state in the eastern part of the country—Chhattisgarh—stands out as the financially most well-managed state in India, because of a revenue surplus budget and low interest payment burden,” said a research report by securities firm, Nomura, which analysed budgets of 18 states in India.

Sounding 'Alert': Indian 'Defence Secrets' Are In Danger!

It’s akin to contract killing of the country’s defence research establishments. With their easy access to classified and secret information, thousands of people working on contractual or temporary basis in India’s top secret defence projects have turned out to be the biggest threat to national security. 

A spate of arrests for spying has alarmed the government. But the country’s premier defence research agency—Defence Research and Development Organisation—has a strength of more than 50,000 temporary or casual employees who have complete access to all its classified and research activities.

Child Prodigies: Three-Year-Old Archer 'Dolly Cherukuri' Should Remind Of Budhia Singh, The Marathon Boy

There are lessons from the story of the four-year-old who ran 65 km from Bhubaneshwar to Puri in just seven hours.

The recent story of Dolly Cherukuri, who set a new national record in archery nine days before her third birthday, prompts a revisit to the story of Budhia Singh, child marathon runner from Odisha.  Dolly’s father, who is also her trainer, and runs an academy for archery, claimed that preparations to mould Dolly to be a future archer began even before her birth.

'Communal Forces Dominating Political Spaces Of Modi'

The perceived communal overtones dominating the political space in the form of the saffron outfits’ ghar wapsi programme are beginning to hurt the Narendra Modi-led NDA government.

The latest India Today Group-Cicero Mood of The Nation Survey shows that the BJP would lose at least 27 Lok Sabha seats from its current tally if elections were held today.

In the opinion poll, 38 per cent of the 12,000 respondents rated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s performance as ‘good’. 

Of those who participated in the opinion poll, 22 per cent categorised it as ‘excellent’ and only 11 per cent said they were ‘unhappy’ with the first 10 months of the National Democratic Alliance government. 

The findings of the opinion poll should come as a wake-up call for the Union government as people might be satisfied overall with its performance on the counts of governance, economy and foreign affairs, but the communal tag is pulling its image down.

A direct fall-out of the government’s image taking a beating is evident in terms of seat projections for the BJP. The survey shows that the ruling party will lose 27 seats while others will gain 24.

How Motherhood Is No Longer The “Frightful Experience It Used To Be” In The Villages Of Odisha State?

Binita Kanhara, 32, a tribal woman from Rajikakhol village in Chakapada block of Kandhamal district in Odisha was very happy the day she learnt that she was expecting her first child. 

Nine months later, when the day came, her mother-in-law decided that the delivery would take place at home. Unfortunately, the newborn child did not survive as it was weak and anaemic and needed medical care. The incident left Binita traumatised for months on end.

'Heritage Fresh' Targets A Whopping Turnover of 1k Crores

SPONSORED: Heritage’s milk products have market presence in Andhra Pradesh,Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharastra, Odisha and Delhi and its retail stores across Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. Integrated agri operations are in Chittoor and Medak Districts and these are backbone to retail operations and the state of art Bakery division at Uppal, Hyderabad, Telangana.

From dairy, agri and bakery to a chain of 80 food and grocery retail stores, the Heritage Group has diversified business operations. Jagdish Krishnan, COO, Heritage Retail and Bakery Divisions, talks about their food and grocery retail arm Heritage Fresh and it’s strong brand positioning and ongoing expansion, with INNLIVE. Here are the edited excerpts:

'34,000 Infant Deaths' In Delhi's Govt Hospitals, RTI Exposed The Shocking Statistics Of Last Five Years

An RTI response has revealed the shocking record of Delhi government hospitals, which boast of world-class healthcare facilities but have failed to save the lives of their newborn and young patients. 

The reply reveals that 12-15 per cent children admitted to the hospitals’ neo-natal and paediatric ICU wards have died in the past five years. In some cases, the death rate has averaged 25 per cent.

The 34,000 casualties in five years were reported from 19 Central and Delhi government hospitals. 

Is Most Wanted Don 'Dawood Ibrahim' Is Behind The 4,000 Cr Lottery Scam Backed By Pak Based Crime Syndicate?

As confidence tricks go, this one is not novel. But the sheer amount of money involved and the trail leading to Pakistan - possibly to a certain Dawood Ibrahim - make it a thriller. 

The Intelligence Bureau (IB) has alerted the government about fraudulent lottery schemes run across India by an organised syndicate in Pakistan, which employs Indian agents to suck huge amounts of money from the gullible.

Golden Telangana: A Galore Of Opportunities, Challenges

The newest State in India, Telangana, shows impressive figures on the economic performance front, whereas in respect of human and social conditions, it appears to be lagging behind.

First the good news. The Budget for 2015-16 and the Socio-Economic Outlook 2015 (Reinventing Telangana: First Steps) presented on March 11 state that the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) growth was estimated to be 5.3% for 2014-15 as against 4.8% in the previous financial year 2013-14. 

Bullet Trains, WiFi, Tatkal Fares, Hygiene, Cleanliness And Make In India Are Main Features Of 'Rail Budget 2015'

The Narendra Modi-led BJP government's first full year Rail Budget is likely to focus less on populist measures and more on attracting investment, modernisation of trains as well as transparency in railway systems.

Splurge on rail infra likely thanks to cheaper oil
According to a Reuters report, India's decrepit state-run train services stand to receive at least a 25 percent boost in investment to over $9 billion, funded solely by falling fuel costs.

Why Opposition Becomes Irrelevant In Indian Democracy?

Instead of accurately representing the people's choice, our electoral system has become a "winner-takes-it-all".

With his Aam Aadmi Party winning 67 out of the 70 seats in the Delhi elections, Arvind Kejriwal could have added insult to the BJP's injury by refusing it the post of the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Delhi legislative Assembly.

According to the norms, a party needs to secure more than ten per cent of the seats to nominate its LoP.

Jayanthi Natarajan Quits Congress, Blames Rahul Gandhi

In a major embarrassment for the Congress party days ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls, Jayanthi Natarajan, who was sacked as Environment minister three months ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls has quit the Congress after what she terms has been a period of 'excruciating mental agony and public humiliation.'

She, the veteran Congress leader was unhappy at how the party completely sidelined her, and have not yet given her a reason for why she was asked to step down as minister a day ahead of Rahul Gandhi's address to FICCI where he assured industrial leaders that the government would ensure a investor-friendly environment.

Special Report: How A 8-Month-Old Abhilasha Sent To Jail In Madhya Pradesh's 'Anti-Conversion' Case?

Recent cases in the state show how the anti-conversion law is being used as a political instrument to target Christians.

With the Bharatiya Janata Party pushing for a national anti-conversion law, it might be instructive to see how existing state laws are used (or not). Last week, INNLIVE reported on a ghar wapsi event in Gujarat’s Valsad district where Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists announced to the media that they had converted 400-500 Christian tribals to Hinduism. Under Gujarat's law, those holding or participating in religious conversion ceremonies must seek permission from the district authorities. No permission was sought by the VHP and yet the policemen present at the event felt no need to act against the organisers.

Three Overlooked Serious Reasons: Why India’s Healthcare Indicators Remain Abysmal?

The Union government wants to subsidise healthcare and at the same time cut health spending. Still, money is just part of the problem.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government announced in July that it would roll out a National Health Assurance Mission, whose aim would be to provide some free medical services to reduce “out of pocket spending on healthcare by the common man”.

Sterilisation: Does Government Even Care About Women?

The government of India needs to set up a high-level body to review the entire family planning programme to make it more gender-sensitive.

Jitni Devi broke down as she narrated her experiences in a sterilisation camp in Kaparfora Bihar in January 2012, where 53 women were operated upon at night in the light of a torch in a filthy and dilapidated school, by a doctor who did not even care to wash his hands or even change his gloves during the procedure. 

When benches ran out, women who had undergone the surgery were made to lie down in an open yard, even when some were bleeding and still in pain. Jitni Devi was already pregnant and miscarried soon after.

BJP’s Expansion Drive Hits Resistance In South, East India

Party's membership drive gets lukewarm response in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s quest to become the “largest political party on the planet” by 2016 appears to have hit a bump. While its membership drive has managed to enrol tens of lakhs in northern and western states, the response in the southern and eastern states has been tepid.

In over a month, the party has registered 21 lakh new members in Uttar Pradesh and 14 lakh new members in Delhi, according to party leaders. Twelve lakh people have joined it in Gujarat and 10 lakh in Maharashtra, they say.