The Maharashtra government launched the Rajiv Gandhi JEEvandayi Arogya Yojana here on Sunday, enabling families with annual income of less than Rs. 1 lakh to avail free medical facilities worth Rs. 1.5 lakh. Health Minister Suresh Shetty announced that this scheme, when fully implemented, would benefit close to 2.5 crore families. However, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, while praising the scheme, lamented the rising rate of population in the State. Mr....

Citing lack of evidence, Jharkhand High Court today acquitted four alleged Maoists, sentenced to death for opening fire on spectators of a football match in Giridih in October 2007 and killing Babulal Marandi’s son and 18 others. A division bench of Justices R.K. Merathia and P.P. Bhatt heard the appeals filed by accused JEEtan Marandi, Manoj Rajwar, Anil Ram and Chhatrapti Mandal and gave them the “benefit of doubt” after citing...

Anna Hazare today appeared to betray an ambition to become the next Jaya Prakash Narayan if not a Mahatma Gandhi II, asking the Opposition to join his agitation if the UPA defeated the efforts to enact a strong Lokpal. He asked the Opposition to hit the streets and fill the jails, sounding a little like JP who had brought the Right and the Left together in his 1970s campaign against the...

Patna, Dec. 9: Health hubs in the state capital are ill-prepared to fight a fire like the one that claimed more than 80 lives today at AMRI Hospitals in Calcutta. Most hospital and nursing homes in the city lack fire-fighting equipment or plan to evacuate patients and employees in case of a blaze. The state does not have any fire prevention rules, as the draft of the law has been entangled in...

There is no typo in the title of this article, but the term “scorepati” is perhaps confusing. By way of explanation, let me introduce three acquaintances. Meena, age 50, lives in a two-room kaccha hut with her disabled husband Chhote Lal who studied up to Class 2. They own half an acre of unirrigated land and a goat. Meena is unable to take up any remunerated work as Chhote Lal needs...