-PTI Taking a tough stand, West Bengal government today said it would be compelled to appoint doctors from other states if the state's own doctors continued to refuse to join the rural health services. Determined to shore up the health infrastructure in the state, the government warned that appointment given to those selected for the state health services would be scrapped if they fail to join before December 11. Director of...

-The Pioneer In a bid to further marginalise the Maoists, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has charted out elaborate plans for the tribal people of Jangalmahal. The State Government has plans to provide more “productive opportunities” to the Advasis in order to bring them into the socio-economic mainstream. These include job creation, developing the Alchiki script, setting up educational institutions and healthcare units and inducting local talent into sports and cultural activities. “We...

-The Hindu In order to reduce mother mortality rate (MMR) and infant mortality rate (IMR), the district administration had launched ‘Amma Lalana' (Mother's Nurture) programme of providing better medicare to pregnant women and new born by tracking them for intervention needed through SMS alerts. Initially, the programme was launched in 25 primary health centres by feeding the information of the pregnant women along with her cellular phone number or husband's phone and...

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has posted an advertisement inviting, by December 31, research proposals on long-term effects of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas on Bhopal’s residents. However, while it is yet to conduct this research 27 years after the Bhopal gas tragedy caused by MIC that left hundreds dead, data shows that the “gas patients” have been routinely used for clinical trials for new drugs at the Bhopal Memorial...

Karnataka, India’s IT success story and its most preferred destination for foreign investment, boasts of the country’s highest per capita income. Its economic indicators are nothing short of superlative and yet the South Indian State accounts for thousands of child deaths due to malnutrition. A recent report shows that despite high SGDP growth and heightened economic activity, Karnataka fares poorly in hunger index and child malnutrition. A recent report by news...