-The Pioneer Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday said the government is proposing a new National Urban Health Mission to focus on the health challenges of people in towns and cities while it would continue the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) for another five years. Delivering his address at the third convocation of the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) here, Singh said: "Our government has decided to continue the...

-The Hindu A Lancet study reports that suicide is the second highest cause of death among the young The medical journal, The Lancet has published a study today which should bring attention to a little known human tragedy which is being played out across our country. The research is based on the first national survey of the causes of death, conducted in 2001-03, by the Registrar General of India. Many people die...

-Live Mint It turns out that some state officials were using NRHM to enrich themselves The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was launched seven years ago with the goal of improving healthcare delivery to people in villages, especially the poor, through a generous infusion of federal funds. Local authorities were given a relatively free hand in deciding how to spend the money, with the Centre promising funds with no strings attached for...

Yet-to-be-made public report dismisses environmental concerns The high-level committee set up by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to study the socio-economic and ecological impacts of the proposed bauxite mining in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam district has submitted its final report  favouring mining. The committee concludes mining will not have any significant negative impact on the ecology. At the same time it recommends settling all claims under the Forest Rights...

-The Economist HOW should one judge the lot of women in India, a country that is in many ways progressive, modern, tolerant and yet by turns repressive and hostile? Women hold the highest political positions (the presidency, speaker of parliament, leader of the ruling party, leader of the opposition in parliament, several chief ministers of large states) and in theory they are protected by a variety laws promoting equality. Though development indicators...