-IANS LUCKNOW: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday conducted raids in Uttar Pradesh as well as Gujarat in connection with the probe into embezzling of funds from the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). Raids were conducted in Ghaziabad, Lucknow and Agra as well as in Vaapi, Gujarat, CBI sources said. The action, seen as knee-jerk, comes after a severe rap by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Wednesday...

-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 Hindu Centre mulling alternative crops The Union Government is looking at the possibility of replacing rice crop in Punjab and Haryana with alternative crops such as pulses, fodder and oilseeds that help in nitrogen fixation. The water-intensive rice cultivation over the years has become unsustainable in these two States and the water table has fallen to precarious levels. Giving this information to members of Parliament’s Consultative Committee for his Ministry, Agriculture Minister...

-The Hindu “The child of the poor who goes missing is just a number in the police record, it is only when a rich man’s child goes missing that the media, the police and the politicians really bother,’’ says Raj Kumar, who along with his wife continue to wait for the return of their eight-year-old daughter Kajol who went missing in April 2010 from in front of her house in Nangloi...

-The Hindu Stereotypical government policies and global approaches persist in family planning programmes. Urmila is a 40-year-old domestic worker in western Uttar Pradesh. The mother of six children, all girls, she is now pregnant again and is keen on carrying on with the pregnancy. Her husband is unemployed and is an alcoholic. His relatives have assured her that they will help her to bring up the child and have also hinted...