-Economic and Political Weekly The draft National Health Policy 2015 is an improvement over its predecessors--the policies of 1984 and 2002. However, it also reveals several gaps, inconsistencies and blind spots which tend to dilute otherwise constructive proposals. The purpose of this article is to open up the draft to further public debate and comment. Forum for Medical Ethics Society (fmesmumbai@gmail.com) is a voluntary, non-profit organisation registered in Mumbai. The society was...

-The Hindu In a span a four years, crimes against children up by 200%, reveals study. Chennai: Over the years, there has been a marked increase in cases of crimes against children in the state, with the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data revealing a 190.6 per cent increase in crimes against children from 2010 to 2014, according to an analysis of the data released recently. One statistic that stands out is the...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Supreme Court today summoned the Union labour secretary to explain states' failure to utilise a staggering Rs 27,000 crore collected as cess for construction workers' welfare and rapped the Centre for its "unfortunate casual attitude" in the matter. A bench of Justices Madan B. Lokur and U.U. Lalit, which deals with social justice matters, said the labour secretary should appear at the next hearing and submit an...

-The Times of India LUDHIANA: It is very unfortunate that a state like Punjab, which is known for its rivers, is facing shortage of water. "When I share this problem with the people of other states, they don't believe it and laugh it off. But in reality, conditions are becoming worse and there is a need to take immediate steps to improve the conditions," Union minister for water resources Uma Bharti...

-Al Jazeera Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unlikely to narrow the gap between Indian elites and the rest of the population India has experienced a significant economic growth spurt in recent decades. After seeing annual growth of 3 percent in the years after independence in 1947, the rate began to double, reaching a rate of around 6 percent per year after 1980. However, the distribution of growth proceeds has been very uneven...