People in the southern state of Kerala are the heaviest drinkers in India, and sales of alcohol are rising fast. The BBC's Soutik Biswas examines why. Jacob Varghese says he began drinking when he was nine years old, sipping on his father's unfinished whisky and brandy in glass tumblers. It's a terrifying story of a descent into alcoholism for this 40-year-old health inspector. At school, he consumed cheap local liquor. He...
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In a first, Assam to guarantee right to health
A quiet revolution to create a healthier India has kicked off in the east with Assam on Thursday becoming the first state in the country to introduce a bill guaranteeing the right to health and well-being. Responding to an appeal from the Centre for legislating on health rights, the state government tabled the landmark Assam Public Health Bill, 2010, in the assembly. The bill, which will be put to vote...
More »CAG raps Assam on drinking water woes
None of the 87 towns, declared urban localities as per the 2001 census, out of the total 125 towns in the state get adequate water supply, the CAG said The Assam government has come in for flak from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India for failing to provide drinking water to towns under urban water supply projects despite the perennial Brahmaputra river flowing through the state. None of the 87...
More »Estate workers, potters may get rice at Rs.2 a kg
Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac told the Assembly on Wednesday that inclusion of estate workers, the disabled and potters in the scheme for supply of rice at Rs.2 a kg would be considered. Replying to the general discussion on the budget, the Minister said that their inclusion would be subject to condition that the total number of families benefiting from the scheme should not exceed 35 lakh. The budget could not...
More »Development package still eludes Kambalapalli victims by KV Subramanya and Vishwa Kundapura
Even a decade after the horrific episode in which seven Dalits were burnt alive by “caste” Hindus in Kambalapalli village of Chintamani taluk in the then undivided Kolar district, 66 families of the victims are still struggling to lead a dignified life. The State Government, which relocated the 66 Dalit families at a new hamlet called Mini-Kambalapalli on the outskirts of Chintamani town, has not made good on its promises of...
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