-Hindustan Times Audit report says most food testing labs in country are ill-equipped. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), India’s constitutionally mandated federal auditor, has cited serious lapses in enforcing food-safety norms in the country, which, it said, could be putting public health at risk. A majority of the country’s food-testing laboratories were poorly managed, the report said. It found that 65 of the 72 state-wide food laboratories were not accredited to the...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: The BJP's victory in the Gujarat elections, hard-fought as it was, points clearly to the possible direction of the Budget that finance minister Arun Jaitley will present in February. Given its setbacks in non-urban areas, the big focus of the ruling party will be on agriculture and the rural economy, apart from a likely boost in minimum support prices (MSP). FM Arun Jaitley told ET the results...

-The Hindu Business Line The Centre and the JPC must allay depositor concerns on bail-in, in the FRDI Bill There is furious public debate around the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill tabled in August and now under the scrutiny of a Joint Parliamentary Committee. The Bill seeks to lay down a clear resolution mechanism for banks and financial firms in the case of default and this is welcome. But there’s...

-The Hindu UHC provides the framework in which the issues of access, quality and cost can be integrated Three recent incidents involving the health-care sector in Delhi have sparked widespread outrage over the alleged mercenary motives and callous conduct of high-profile corporate hospitals. Two cases involved children with dengue who died soon after leaving these hospitals in a serious condition after their families were presented huge hospitalisation and treatment bills. The third...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Pollution may be at alarming levels in Delhi but the state transport department does not have annual data on the number of "Pollution Under Control " certificates issued by it, the Central Information Commission has lamented. The CIC has pulled up department officials for "sheer indifference" and directed them "to compile and publish" the numbers of PUC certificates after verifying that the vehicles meet emission norms. An RTI applicant,...