-Down to Earth The disease has been on India’s radar since 2006; need to strengthen disease surveillance, train workforce and build robust laboratories    The death of an 11-year-old boy from Haryana at Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences due to Avian influenza — the first such fatality in the country — has stressed the need to respond to zoonotic diseases in a timely manner.  Experts have flagged the emergence and re-emergence of...

-The Hindu Korra Bhagavan sometimes walks 10 km to the most remote areas to attend to the sick in Red corridor VAKULURU (EAST GODAVARI): Deep inside Maoist territory along the Andhra-Odisha Border (AOB), a doctor from the Bagata tribe, Korra Bhagavan, makes the arduous trek across the forests with unfailing regularity, come rain or shine. His mission? Ensure that tribals living in the most remote, inaccessible villages get medical treatment in their hour...

-The Telegraph This year, a combination of factors is hurting the agriculture sector immensely A quiet, reverse transformation is happening in the countryside, and it is disconcerting. This sowing season, growing numbers of farmers are falling back on their bullocks as fuel prices are piercing the roof. The tractor, the symbol of modern farming, is becoming a luxury in the literal sense. The conventional ploughing equipment tied to bullocks costs only a...

-Citizen's Report on Year Two of the NDA-II Government 2020-2021: Promises and Reality, Civil Society Initiative, Coordinated by Wada Na Todo Abhiyan, released in July, 2021  “Promises & Reality – Citizens’ Report on the Year Two of the NDA II Government, 2020-21” is a collective work by eminent members and organisations of the Indian civil society. The report covers a wide array of concerns and issues in thematic areas including health,...

-The Hindu Existing laws on juvenile justice, bonded labour and POCSO sufficient, say experts. The emphasis on criminalisation and policing instead of welfare measures in the new proposed anti-trafficking Bill makes it anti-MIGrants and anti-sex workers, warn experts. The Ministry of Women and Child Development recently placed the Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Care and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2021, in the public domain and sought stakeholders' comments till July 14. The Bill is also scheduled...