Passionate about the deepening of agrarian crisis, quite often journalists and media persons cite figures related to farm suicide (as provided by the National Crime Records Bureau) in order to draw the attention of the readers. They do so in the following ways: * Compare the absolute number of farm suicides (viz. suicide by cultivators + suicide by agricultural labourers) across regions/ states for a particular time point or time period...

-The Telegraph Shortcoming to affect follow-up care Only a fourth of patients with chronic diseases who attend government clinics in India receive all the key information they need for future follow-up care by other doctors, a study has suggested. Only 24 per cent of the outpatient clinic documents the study screened mentioned all four pieces of key information: the diagnosis, prescribed medication, long-term care instructions and follow-up information. The study found that 32...

-The Hindu Study raises safety, efficacy concerns; call for ban of irrational formulations Of the 110 anti-TB (tuberculosis) Fixed Dose Combinations (FDCs) available in India, only 32 (less than 30%) have been approved by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), the country’s drug regulator. In the case of malaria FDCs, only eight out of 20 (40%), have been approved. These statistics, that give rise to safety and efficacy concerns, have been brought...

-Livemint.com India’s statistical system suffered credibility shocks when the GDP series was released Last week, the NITI Aayog released the back series of gross domestic product (GDP) data on base 2011-12 for the years 2004-05 to 2011-12. The series was eagerly awaited by Researchers as well as policymakers ever since the base was revised in January 2015. This release follows an unofficial release of the report of the committee on real...

-The Hindu Business Line Researchers say that environmental problem of groundwater depletion is much more serious than carbon dioxide emissions associated with it New Delhi: Over-extraction of groundwater is a major environmental challenge in many parts of India. It is not only leading to rapid decline in groundwater reserves but also contributing to India’s carbon emissions, a new study has warned. Billions of litres of groundwater pumped out every year contributes to carbon...