-IPS News NEW DELHI: Vinita Panikker, 26, considers herself “the world’s most unfortunate woman”. Three years ago, a jealous husband, who suspected her of having an affair with her boss at a software company, poured a whole bottle of hydrochloric acid on her face while she was asleep. The fiery liquid seared her flesh, blighting her face almost entirely while blinding her in one eye. What remains today of a once pretty visage...

-The Times of India AGRA: Unseasonal rains that lashed fields across northern India and destroyed crops have not only driven farmers to commit suicide by the dozens, many are now lining up at mental Hospitals for help. In just the last one month, there has been a staggering 33% increase in patients visiting Agra's renowned Institute of Mental Health and Hospital (IMHH). Doctors at the hospital told TOI on Monday that almost...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Supreme Court today directed all government and private Hospitals to provide not only first-aid, but also follow-up treatment, free to acid-attack victims. The court said states and Union territories could take action under Section 357C of CrPC against private Hospitals and clinics for refusal to treat such victims. This section says: "All Hospitals, public or private, whether run by the central government, the state government, local bodies or...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The CIC has told the Centre and the state governments to enforce RTI in private Hospitals and ensure they provide medical records to patients on a daily basis. In a scathing order against Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj, which had refused to give records of a deceased patient to his son, the transparency watchdog has directed that daily disclosure would prevent undesirable practices of altering records after...

-The Hindu The parliamentary stand off over the Indian government's effort to ease procedures to acquire land for "public purposes" continues, with the government deciding to re-promulgate the ordinance amending the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013. Besides concern about the impact that this would have on the farming community and those dependent on it, another cause for the controversy is the...