-Outlook This could be the UPA’s worst cut to its beloved aam admi. Healthcare has virtually been handed over to privateers. Not For Those Who Need It Most Govt seems to have abandoned healthcare to the private sector Diagnosing An Ailing Republic     70 per cent of India still lives in the villages, where only two per cent of qualified allopathic doctors are available     Due to lack of access to medical care, rural India...

-The Hindustan Times The hanging of the 2001 Parliament attack accused Afzal Guru in Delhi’s Tihar Jail last week evoked a range of diverse emotions. While Guru’s Sopore-based family accused the Union government of not informing them about the execution, the State rejected the charge. A senior Supreme Court lawyer questioned the timing of the execution, saying that the Centre decided to hang Guru at this time because several important assembly...

-The Hindu The ground beneath Arundhati Roy’s seismic claims on the Parliament House attack, is shaky — to say the least “Everyone is entitled to their own opinions”, the American politician Daniel Patrick Moynihan — among others — is credited with having said, “but not to his own facts.” Muhammad Afzal Guru’s execution on Saturday morning — a grim spectacle, where the Indian government disgraced itself by denying his family a last meeting,...

-Outlook Jalna: Terming the drought situation in Maharashtra as "grim," Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said he would recommend the Centre to release more funds for the state to tackle the problem. "The situation is grim and an important decision regarding the future mode of action would be taken soon in New Delhi by the Drought Eradication Committee (headed by Pawar)," the Union Minister said while addressing people during a visit to...

-The Business Standard Nobody will believe Finance Ministry data that only 400,000 Indians earn more than Rs 20 lakh a year I had barely finished my lecture in support of Tax on Super Rich, when this gentleman sprang up from the audience and asked me how the finance ministry will define “Super Rich” in India. I managed to answer his question by reminding him that CERTain issues should be left to the...