-The Indian Express The Rajasthan government is planning two significant amendments to the Right to Education (RTE) Act: reintroducing exams in at least three classes from Class I to 8, and giving more weightage to "learning outcomes" than to physical infrastructure of schools while deciding on their recognition or registration. A senior Rajasthan government official told The Indian Express that during Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's "sarkar apke dwar" programme, parents suggested that...

-The Telegraph Kolkata: The Bengal government's decision to select insurance companies quoting the lowest premiums for a centrally funded health care scheme has hit private hospitals that are refusing patients citing non-payment of claims by the firms. Senior officials of the health department said thousands of poor patients registered under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana were being refused admission by hospitals and nursing homes across the state every month. The registered families...

-Press Information Bureau/ Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Health Minister, has said that the government is confident of reducing the newborn (birth to 28 days) mortality rate to single digit long before the 2030 target date. The present death rate is 29 per 1,000 live births. For this are required simple, cost-effective interventions before and immediately after delivery. Inaugurating the Indian Newborn Action Plan (INAP) here today,...

-The New Indian Express   THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Union Government should not go ahead with the implementation of the Dr Meenakumari Report on fishing sector, the Kerala Swathanthra Matsyathozhilali Federation state committee has demanded. Inaugurating a workshop on deep sea fishing policy, organised by the Federation in association with National Fishworkers' Forum and Association of Deep Seagoing Artisanal Fishermen in the city the other day, Labour Minister Shibu Baby John opined that implementing the...

-The United Nations While child survival rates have increased dramatically since 1990, one million babies each year do not see their second day of life, many succumbing to complications during Labour and delivery that could be easily prevented with simple, cost effective interventions, according to a report released today by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The 2014 Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed progress report - the second in a...