-The Hindu Tuticorin (Tamil Nadu): Now, drug stores selling medicines have slashed prices following the establishment of Amma Pharmacy. To cater to the needy, medicines were being sold through these State-owned pharmacies at special discounts from 20 to 35 percent, Collector M. Ravikumar said in a statement on Saturday. These pharmacies were functioning at three locations in Tuticorin and Kayathar to benefit the poor and the middle income group people. Medicines to the...

-The Hindu The Centre notified the mid-day meals rules on Thursday, making running quality tests and sticking to nutritional standards mandatory. The State governments will be held accountable for non-delivery of service. The exhaustive guidelines to be followed by the States come days after 80 children fell ill after being served milk in a school in Agra. If a school fails to serve food to students for three consecutive school days or five...

-PTI Delhi has reported 504 cases of dengue in the last five days, taking the number of patients hit by the mosquito-borne viral disease to 6,486, the highest since 1996. Data released on Thursday by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, which tracks the infection the symptoms of which include high fever and aching joints, shows 25 people died of dengue this season. Records of major hospitals, however, put the number of dead...

-The Statesman The toxicity of pesticides to humans, their ability to remain in the environment and accumulate in products require the establishment of strict scientifically substantiated regulations for their safe application. In India, the rules for using pesticides are worked out together by the Union ministries for agriculture and health. Every year, an approved “List of Chemical and Biological Means for Controlling Pests, Plant Diseases and Weeds Allowed to be used...

-The Hindu A recent proposal to curtail the powers of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India runs contrary to national and international conventions. Rather, it is the duty of both the executive and the legislature to strengthen this constitutional office A conference of the chairpersons of Public Accounts Committees (PACs) has just been held under the aegis of the Parliament’s PAC. Nishikant Dubey, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), member PAC, and...