When more than 30 children died in Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College due to Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) between 10th and 12th of August this year, it became a sensational news item for the Indian media. However, one cannot assume that the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath did not know that several districts of his state, including Gorakhpur were among the JE/ AES...

-Scroll.in Hours after the Supreme Court held privacy to be a fundamental right, Minister of Information and Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad claimed that the Narendra Modi government was in favour of declaring privacy a fundamental right. Is this correct? First, here is what Prasad said at a press conference in Delhi after the judgement was pronounced Thursday morning: “Government welcomes judgement. Government has been of the view, particularly with regard to Aadhaar,...

-The Indian Express Bengal, which recently witnessed communal violence in Basirhat, has had 26 incidents and 3 deaths until May, as compared to 32 incidents (4 deaths) for entire 2016. The current year has seen 296 incidents of communal violence so far, with 44 deaths, according to data released by the home ministry in Parliament. The previous two years in their entirety saw 703 deaths (2016) and 751 (2015), with 86 and...

-The Indian Express The failure of populist rural credit schemes stems primarily from poor understanding of farm indebtedness in the first place. From the 1970s, a lot of private investment in tube-well irrigation, farm mechanisation and allied agricultural activities took place with bank credit support. After the establishment of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) in 1982, institutional credit flows not only accelerated, but also exhibited diversification to fund livestock...

-PTI The government has formed a committee in its bid to make drugs more affordable in the country, Parliament was informed on Tuesday. “Government has constituted a committee of joint secretaries for ensuring enhanced affordability, availability and accessibility of drugs for the citizens,” Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Mansukh L. Mandaviya said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. Elaborating on the terms of reference of the committee, the minister said...