-The Hindu Majority of patients are utilising public health facilities in the State for chronic disease treatment An evaluation has ranked Tamil Nadu at the top for implementation outcomes of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and described it as a benchmark for other States. Analysis of data also reveals that in physical infrastructure per 1 lakh population with respect to Primary Health Centres, Community Health Centres, and First Reference Units, Jammu and...

-The Times of India The Nirbhaya case may have prompted the judiciary to put hearings related to crimes against women on the fast track, but anRTI reply has laid bare just how challenging the problem of pendency is in the Delhi high court. A litigant who filed a civil suit in 1972 is still waiting for its outcome; two criminal appeals filed in 1976 are pending ; bail pleas are waiting...

-The Indian Express National Commission for Protection of Child Rights chief Shantha Sinha Saturday opposed Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath’s demand that the 17-year-old involved in the Delhi gangrape be tried as an adult. Sinha is also not in favour of “knee-jerk revisions” in the age provision in the Juvenile Justice Act that Tirath has hinted at. “Law is not made over one unique case. NCPCR is against any dilution of...

-The Hindu There is no room for complacency that India has eliminated this crippling disease as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have recorded a high incidence of a condition symptomatic of it Identifying children who suddenly display muscle weakness, often not moving one or more of their limbs as a result, forms the cornerstone of polio surveillance. Such children could have “acute flaccid paralysis” (AFP) that is symptomatic of polio, a disease caused...

-The Hindu Relentless counter-insurgency operations taken up in all left-wing extremism-affected States seemed to have had the desired impact, as Maoist violence registered a record low in 2012. The downward trend in violence in the last six-year period, could indicate the success of the security forces in pushing the Maoist revolution into a strategic equilibrium stage. Another possibility could be an unannounced tactical retreat from some areas by Maoists themselves to protect...