Performance-enhancing drugs are no longer restricted to the high-stakes world of professional sports. Eleven participants at the 57th National School Games in Delhi-from Maharashtra, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, and aged between 14 and 19-tested positive for such substances earlier this year. Alarmed by the dangerous trend, the government's National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) shot off a letter to various educational boards and universities across the country, asking them to ensure dope-free sports....

With its granaries brimming over, the government faces a crippling dilemma: The tab for releasing foodgrain to make way for new arrivals adds up to Rs 20,000-25,000 crore, an unviable addition to the subsidy bill. The government's bind was succinctly outlined by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee when he told a meeting called by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday that vacating food silos will mean a hefty cost at a time...

On March 29, 2011, a Right to Information application on AIIMS faculty members travelling abroad on official tours was filed. The applicant sought details of their reasons for the visits, money spent and sponsors of the trips. AIIMS public information officer Lalit Kumar replied six days later saying, “The information is not available. Presently there are 450 committee members. The details for permission of this kind of work, thus the...

-The United Nations Some 15 million babies worldwide – more than one in ten births – are born too early, according to a new United Nations-backed report, released today, which calls for steps such as ensuring the requisite medicines and equipment and training Health staff to promote child survival. “All newborns are vulnerable, but preterm babies are acutely so,” says Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who wrote the foreword to the report, entitled...

Now, Bollywood movies won't have to run a scroll with anti-tobacco messages each time a smoking scene is shown. India has for the time-being shelved a notification that had come into effect on November 14, 2011. The notification had made it mandatory for all new movies that had scenes pertaining to smoking or tobacco use, to provide Health warnings at the bottom of the screen all through the duration of the...