-The Hindu The Jan Swasthya Abhiyan on Monday called upon the Union Government to extend free medicine supply scheme, presently operational in a few States like Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, all over the country to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure of common people on health care. Such a scheme would especially benefit the patients deprived of any kind of treatment due to poverty. In a letter addressed to Union Health & Family Welfare Secretary...

-The Hindu “Take again Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code,” Jawaharlal Nehru said during a parliamentary debate centred around freedom of speech in 1951. “Now as far as I am concerned that particular Section is highly objectionable and obnoxious and it should have no place…in any body of laws that we might pass. The sooner we get rid of it the better.” Ironically, the sedition clause not only remains on...

-The Wall Street Journal/ Live Mint More than 60 million pushed below poverty line in India by healthcare costs in 2011 More than 60 million people were pushed below the poverty line in India by healthcare costs in 2011, said the Lancet medical journal, making a case for universal health coverage (UHC) in its latest issue. This comes amid international debate on the role of insurance, affordable medicines and access to healthcare. The...

-The Economic Times After one failed attempt in 2009, the Delhi government is making yet another effort to make plastic bags history in Delhi. This time the proposed blanket ban comes with zero tolerance to even plastic used to cover school books, magazines and invitation cards. These are some of the provisions of a proposal of the environment department for imposing a ban on not just sale and use but even...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: In an explosive revelation, a whistle-blower in the state government has said a staggering Rs 35,000 crore was siphoned off and wasted on dud irrigation projects in the past decade. The Maharashtra government has spent Rs 70,000 crore on such projects across the state during this period. Vijay Pandhare, chief engineer (water resources department) and member of the state-level technical advisory committee who wrote a stinging 15-page...