-IANS   An eerie silence welcomes me as I walk down the row of houses, not a soul in sight. I know that from every tiny window in these little brick-walled units, watchful, suspicious eyes follow my every move. They are assessing me, wondering if I am friend or foe. But then, in these thickly forested parts, the lines of distinction blurred many years ago. And their life could depend on the accuracy...

The fourth pillar of democracy would cease to be free if it is made accountable to one or more of the other pillars. Much of the media, says Justice Markandey Katju, the new Chairman of the Press Council of India, is of very poor intellectual level. That, even for a former judge, would be being judgmental — except that sections of the media concerned seem hell-bent on proving him right. Setting...

-The Hindu   The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered five Preliminary Enquiries (PEs) relating to alleged irregularities in the funds allotted to the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in Uttar Pradesh since its inception in 2005-06, CBI spokesperson said here on Saturday. The PEs were registered on the directions of the Allahabad High Court's Lucknow Bench. They pertain to civil works of Director-General (Family Welfare), procurement of medicines and equipments and information,...

A high-level team of doctors and scientists today visited the paediatrics ward of Anugrah Narayan Medical College and Hospital (ANMCH) in Gaya and scanned the case records of children suspected to be suffering from Japanese and acute encephalitis. Its members also inspected the treatment methods on the concluding day of their three-day investigation. The team of members from Delhi, Pune and Patna was in Gaya to carry out on-the-spot study of...

-The Economic Times Chief Economic Adviser Kaushik Basu on Friday said that the government should consider providing free Health care for the poor and significantly increase its spending on the Health sector. Citing examples of other developing nations like Bangladesh that have better life expectancy and infant mortality rate than India, Basu added that the country has not yet attached adequate importance to the Health sector which might prove detrimental for the...