-The Hindu The representatives of the recognised national and State-level political parties on Friday expressed satisfaction over the functioning of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), developed by the Election Commission (EC) and made some suggestions for further improvement. The Commission said "the suggestions will be considered by the Expert Committee and the EC." Informed sources said the improved VVPAT could possibly be used for field...

-The Hindu A NABARD survey says middlemen funded by banks have kept growers captive to high-interest loans Jammu: Kashmir's acres of undulating apple orchards may soon be waste lands, a survey by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) accessed by The Hindu shows. The Rs. 4,000-crore industry has been brought to its knees by a network of middle-order market functionaries comprising pre-harvest contractors (PHCs), commission agents (CAs) and wholesalers...

-The Pioneer Minister misused Corporate slot to raise funds for family Trust Union Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily could be in the dock for raising funds for his family controlled trust from a corporate giant when he was Corporate Affairs Minister. Moily faces another serious case of conflict of interest as a top official of Reliance Industries is advisor to a company controlled by Moily’s son Harsha Moily. Even earlier, the Minister...

-Outlook This could be the UPA’s worst cut to its beloved aam admi. Healthcare has virtually been handed over to privateers. Not For Those Who Need It Most Govt seems to have abandoned healthcare to the private sector Diagnosing An Ailing Republic     70 per cent of India still lives in the villages, where only two per cent of qualified allopathic doctors are available     Due to lack of access to medical care, rural India...

-The Hindu By opting for a U.S.-style medical care model, India is endangering its universal health coverage goal, and paving the way for a corporatised, for-profit system As India continues to debate how best to implement universal health coverage, two recent and seemingly unrelated news items need to be analysed carefully. The first one pertains to a report released earlier this year by the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine in...