-PTI Bihar State Human Rights Commission today took suo motu cognizance of reports in different newspapers about cases of removal of uteruses purportedly under Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY). "They (the cases) do not appear to be sporadic incidents; rather they seem to have been done in a systematic manner as if they were the result of conspiracy and part of some racket. The reports refer to the districts of Saran, Sitamarhi,...

-The Indian Express Firebrand leader who rose swiftly till downfall She rose swiftly through the ranks, having made her mark as a firebrand leader who had saffron politics as part of her legacy. Mayaben Surendrabhai Kodnani, convicted of murder, conspiracy and spreading communal hatred, is the daughter of a staunch RSS worker who had suffered the pains of Partition, moving from Tharparkar in Sind province to Deesa in Gujarat. Kodnani, the first sitting...

-The Hindu The Centre on Tuesday said Bihar and Chhattisgarh had initiated investigation into the alleged removal of uteruses of BPL women as part of a fraud to corner insurance money. Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad laid a copy of his statement, made in response to a calling attention motion sponsored by a host of MPs led by Lok Jan Shakti Party president Ram Vilas Paswan, in the Rajya...

-Down to Earth Centre drafts guidelines to regulate clinical establishments; Indian Medical Association resists After expressing resentment over the Centre’s efforts to regulate medical education, doctors are now up in arms against its move to regulate clinical establishments that are flourishing without any accountability. The Indian Medical Association (IMA), the largest body of doctors in the country, is threatening to sue several state governments if they enforce the Clinical Establishments (Registration and...

-The Indian Express Patna: Over 16,000 hysterectomies (surgical removal of the uterus), most of them “unnecessary”, have been reported at private hospitals across Bihar during the last one year allegedly to “avail insurance benefit” under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna.   The RSBY was launched by the Centre in April 2008. Preliminary investigation by Samastipur, Madhubani and Chhapra district authorities, which reported the maximum number of complaints, showed 10,000 hysterectomies took place in these...