-The Hindu In Bihar, ‘development’ comes laced with caste. For the upper castes, it is Modi’s pitch on investment that matters while for Backward Classes, Nitish’s social welfare agenda makes him a governance icon. The BJP, having no regional match for Nitish, has banked on Modi’s popularity. “Development” is a word that one encounters frequently across poll-bound Bihar, with people across caste lines using it to explain their political preferences. However, this...

-The Statesman The toxicity of pesticides to humans, their ability to remain in the environment and accumulate in products require the establishment of strict scientifically substantiated regulations for their safe application. In India, the rules for using pesticides are worked out together by the Union ministries for agriculture and health. Every year, an approved “List of Chemical and Biological Means for Controlling Pests, Plant Diseases and Weeds Allowed to be used...

-TheWire.in New Delhi: Despite five Supreme Court orders since September 2013 stating that the Aadhaar card cannot be a mandatory requirement for access to government services or subsidies, the reality on the ground continues to remain very different. The point was underlined at a press conference in Delhi yesterday where, besides lawyers and experts, a resident of Yamuna Khadar, Delhi described how he was denied emergency treatment in two public hospitals...

-The Times of India CHENNAI: Corporation of Chennai insists that private hospitals reserve 10 per cent of their beds for admission of poor patients free of cost according to the guidelines of the Nursing Homes Regulatory Act. It also mandates that private hospitals submit periodical monthly reports to the health officer to register a nursing home and hospital with beds in the city. Of the 700 private hospitals in Chennai, few, if...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: Certain medicines are being aggressively marketed in India despite inadequate evidence of safety and efficacy, putting patients at risk, said reputed medical journal Lancet. Highlighting weak regulation and monitoring of the domestic drug industry, three recently-introduced medicines are being prescribed and sold though there is a lack of rigorous trials on crucial safety and efficacy parameters. The pharmaceutical industry in India should face the same stringent regulations...