-The Times of India Unwilling to risk their futures to political vagaries, corporate houses tend to hedge their bets and contribute to political parties across the spectrum. Data analyzed by the Association for Democratic Reforms and the National Election Watch has found that the trust which made the maximum contributions to political parties is the General Electoral Trust of the Aditya Birla Group, with Rs 36.46 crore to the Congress between 2003-04...

-The Hindu The Jan Swasthya Abhiyan on Monday called upon the Union Government to extend free medicine supply scheme, presently operational in a few States like Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, all over the country to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure of common people on health care. Such a scheme would especially benefit the patients deprived of any kind of treatment due to poverty. In a letter addressed to Union Health & Family Welfare Secretary...

-Live Mint/ The Wall Street Journal Contributions more than doubled between 2004 and 2009 polls; experts say published figures just tip of the iceberg  Contributions, including money from top companies, to the country’s two largest political parties, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), more than doubled between the 2004 and 2009 general elections. This revelation affirms a trend of companies, most of which are listed, opting for a transparent route to...

-The Times of India LUCKNOW: The major source of the income of political parties in India is through donations and voluntary contributions. However, majority donations comes from undisclosed contributors. According to the study conducted by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), an umbrella body of non-governmental organizations working across the country for transparency in political and electoral system, the top five political parties with the highest total income between financial year (FY)...

-The Hindu India ranks among the lowest in the world in public spending on health, but the private spending is one of the highest. The National Sample Survey Organisation’s report (2006) shows over 35 per cent of people who are hospitalised fall below the poverty line because of the expenses that follow, and over 40 per cent have to borrow or sell assets to pay for their care. Private sector provision...