Japanese encephalitis — a form of brain fever — has hit the state capital and its neighbouring areas. At least 10-12 cases of the disease are being reported at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) daily over the past few days. Dr Nigam Prakash Narayan, a senior doctor at the paediatrics ward of the hospital, said: “About 250 patients of encephalitis have been admitted to the hospital so far. Of them,...
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Government toed Union Carbide's line on compensation: RTI by Shahnawaz Akhtar
Just months after the 1984 gas leak at Union Carbide's plant here, the Indian government agreed to the 'terms' set by the company on compensation to be paid to victims, a Right to Information (RTI) activist has claimed. Not only that, the government treated the world's worst industrial disaster as a 'railway accident'. 'We have obtained top secret documents dated Feb 28 and March 5, 1985, that show that Union Carbide...
More »“Child Labour Act requires more teeth”
-The Hindu Nearly 20 years of campaigning against child labour in the fireworks industry has only driven the practice underground, a fact-finding study in Sivakasi conduced by a group of non-governmental organisations has said. Commissioned by Campaign Against Child Labour – Tamil Nadu, the study was jointly executed by members of Centre for Child Rights and Development (CCRD), NEED, Sivakasi, Human Rights Foundation, Indian Council for Child Welfare, Manitham of Sivaganga, and...
More »Anti-tobacco drive to involve Mizo church
-The Telegraph The Centre has decided to take the help of the church to minimise the use of tobacco in Mizoram, after it was found that the state was home to the highest number of tobacco users in the country. The chief medical officer of the directorate-general of health services, Jagdish Kaur, revealed this here today during the release of the northeastern region’s factsheet of the Global Adult Tobacco Survey at NEDFi...
More »Understanding the poverty line by Amitabh Kundu
The popular outrage over the official definition of poverty at abysmally low levels of daily income, of Rs 26 in rural areas and Rs 32 in urban areas, assumes the state will deny basic services to a household whose income is above the figure. This is totally erroneous. There is no mechanism in the hands of the government to ascertain income or expenditure to identify the 'poor' on the ground. The...
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