-The Economic Times India is a country of 1.2 billion people. One estimate, provided by the World Health Organization, suggests that, on average, one physician is required to serve 1,000 people, across all levels of care. This implies that we need a total of 1.2 million physicians to serve our population. However, the total number of formally-qualified allopathic doctors in the country is estimated to be only about half that number,...

-The Economic Times Chhattisgarh is set to become the first state to extend health insurance cover to all its unorganised sector workers, a step that will not only make healthcare accessible to all but also set a model for other states to follow. The state has offered to pay the insurance premium from October 1 for all those not covered under the Centre's flagship health insurance scheme-the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY)....

-The Business Standard State must get out of insulin price-setting The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, or NPPA, has turned down the request of drug companies to raise insulin prices. Domestic insulin-makers Biocon and Cadila had argued that the cost of production and packaging had become higher, and multinational corporation Eli Lilly wanted the depreciation in the rupee vis-à-vis the dollar to be factored into the price. The NPPA says it has...

-The Economic Times The government may ban wheat exports by private traders under open general licence despite having enough stocks to feed the country for two years due to concerns about high global prices and the drought-like situation back home that has triggered a 20% rise in wheat futures in a month. "There are chances that private traders may divert all the available wheat in the market -- released at subsidised rates...

-The Economic Times Reserve Bank of India Governor D Subbarao has said the proposed elimination of fuel subsidy can lead to a massive 2.6% spike in inflation, an assessment that makes it even more difficult for the government to bite the bullet. While a hike in diesel and cooking gas prices may be long overdue, the government is hard-pressed to contain inflation ahead of crucial assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh...