-The Times of India KOLKATA: consumers could face long power outages in the coming days as a deficient monsoon and sweltering heat in most parts of the country have raised electricity demand while state run power generators are threatening to cut off supplies to distribution companies (discoms) unless they pay up Rs 20,000-crore outstanding bills. As nearly 80 per cent of the dues are owed by northern and eastern utilities, states like...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Cancer medicines and stents may soon be available at a substantially lower price. The health ministry is working on a model to procure such drugs in bulk at a negotiated price and supply them to hospitals and consumers through its own retail system like 'Jan Aushadhi' stores. . The idea is to bring down prices of expensive cancer drugs and stents while not putting pressure on...

-Livemint.com India needs to invest more in developing rural infrastructure The script is familiar. After borrowing heavily for inputs such as seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, farmers in most parts of India wait for the monsoon. When the rain fails, the farmers’ agony begins. Forced migration to cities in search of manual work, distress sales of land and, in extreme cases, suicides are the way out. This kharif season has a distressingly familiar ring...

-Livemint.com Amid all the gloom, the lower inflation rate and commodity prices could bring some respite With the southwest monsoon retracing, concerns about the deficiency of rainfall and its impact on the economy are increasing. The 15% rainfall deficit makes it the second consecutive year of less-than-normal monsoon dotted with some unseasonal showers. Together, this would have multiple ramifications on economic growth. Both macroeconomic and sectoral analysts have turned cautious and some...

-The Hindu Rescuing Maternal and Child Health-only systems, which have become under-resourced and have built a very high-cost but low-performance culture, will be a challenging task. Given the rising burden of non-communicable diseases, there is an increasing demand to build health systems that can address these concerns. However, given how large the unfinished agenda of the Millennium Development Goals is, the Indian government has chosen to stay focussed on Maternal and Child...