A number of tribal kids are dying of malnutrition in Palghar district, Maharashtra. Lack of basic facilities like roads, water, healthcare and employment is also not helping.

Read: Tribals in neglect



It is a common enough notion in the market and among investors that private sector banks have superior asset management skills and consequently, a miniscule amount of toxic assets. This popular narrative has, in turn, led to a rising demand for the privatisation of public sector banks, besieged as they are by the mounting non-performing assets (NPAs) in their loan books.

Read: My NPAs, your NPAs 



A recent Bombay high court judgment has emphasised that the right of women to make motherhood choices – whether or not to get pregnant and stay pregnant – is an inalienable natural right. This has given strength to the demand for changes in the law regulating termination of pregnancy to give more autonomy to women over their bodies.

Read: Balancing the rights – of mother and unborn baby 



Can you imagine a day without cash? The answer is an obvious ‘no’. The rustle of notes and jingle of coins still have the power to light up any face. In fact, more than 99 percent of transactions by volume are still in cash payments in India, according to a McKinsey Global Insights report. Some argue that this overdependence on physical money is due to challenges like inaccessible banking services, lack of infrastructure to support non-cash payment and internet connectivity, which continue to persist, especially in the rural and remote regions of India. Others say that Indians are simply cash-obsessed

Read: Case against cash 



The news of vital data of thousands of debit cards being exposed to fraudsters has sent many into a tizzy, with people now calling up their banks and looking up Google on what to do next. Though banks have been sending alerts, to all those whose cards are found to be at risk, along with a host of to-do steps while using a debit card, there is one basic precautionary measure I would advise everyone to follow – something that I learnt while reporting in Chandigarh.

Read: Be cautious or else you may fall prey to debit card fraud