-PTI Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Friday termed the "horrific assault" on the 23-year-old girl as "most painful" incident for her since she assumed the top post in the capital and said she personally favoured death penalty for rapists. She said she hated Delhi being called "rape capital" of India and stressed that "something concrete" must be done to instill confidence among women in the city against the growing fear of...

-The Hindu Caste Hindu students keep away, even sit separately in class DHARMAPURI: Even as they are yet to get over the November 7 attack on their houses, the children of Natham, Kondampatti and Anna Nagar Dalit colonies in Naikkankottai village have run into another problem in one of the schools: caste Hindu students are keeping away from them for the last two days at the Government High School. The students are being...

-Outlook Alleging discrimination against SC, ST and OBC students at AIIMS, 54 MPs have sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention in the matter, requesting him to seek a detailed report from the institute's administration. In a letter to Singh, the MPs also informed that AIIMS has not fulfilled the criteria for appointment of doctors and other medical staffs from backward communities, creating a backlog against these. "There are serious allegations of discrimination against...

-The Hindu Only voluntary rural service for medicos The State government has abolished the Compulsory Rural Service (CRS) for Medical Students, the provision which had led to a series of agitations by medicos in the past few years. In a Government Order dated October 8, the government has done away with the CRS and replaced it with Voluntary Rural Service (VRS). The order has also conceded the demand for allowing onetime maternity benefits for...

-The Indian Express The Planning Commission has proposed to train registered medical practitioners, commonly referred to as quacks, to ensure universal health coverage reaches even the remote populations. “Affordability, accessibility and quality are three pillars of UHC. The challenge is to fill the gaps especially in rural areas where there is a problem of trained manpower. We would like to train traditional midwives and RMPs — some people call them jholawala doctors...