Even as a team of experts from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), Delhi, held on-the-spot study of the situation, Gujarat government officials have heaved a sigh of relief with all the 70-odd samples send to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, having tested negative for the rare Crimean-Congo Hae. The State government officials were under pressure after three deaths, including that of a doctor and a nurse, under...

Like Kerala’s Kasaragod, neighbouring Dakshina Kannada is bearing the brunt of spraying of endosulfan. While Kasaragod grabbed media spotlight and Kerala banned the pesticide, victims in Karnataka are still struggling for recognition. Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa in December announced that his government would consider banning endosulfan. The highly toxic pesticide is banned in over 70 countries. The assurance has come too late and is too little for the hundreds of...

This is the virus' first appearance in India The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday claimed that no new cases of the Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) were reported from Gujarat even as a six-member central team of the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) arrived in Ahmedabad to investigate the outbreak. The National Institute of Virology (NIV) at Pune has sent a team as well. Surveillance begun Surveillance activity has been...

‘Linking the question to annihilation of caste is an important research agenda' ‘Dalits' position relative to dominant castes has not improved significantly' Participants at a national seminar on ‘Dalit households in village economies,' which began here on Friday, affirmed that a lasting solution to India's “agrarian question” — characterised by extreme inequalities in the distribution of land — was inseparably linked to the widespread discrimination of Dalits. Speaking at the inaugural session of...

Prof M.S. Swaminathan, the father of Green Revolution and Chairman of National Commission on Farmers (NCF) that called for revamp of policies to revitalise agriculture, says agricultural sector in India is entering a state of serious crisis. Quoting figures from national sample survey Organisation, he says half of the farmers in the country want to quit farming. Prof Swaminathan, who was here to deliver the Convocation Address at the Acharya N.G....