Three bills the Centre has lined up to regulate higher education have been described as “draconian” by private institutions, which fear their enactment will bring the segment under a “police raj”. Two of the bills provide for jail terms and stiff fines to ensure that colleges and universities obtain accreditation before — and not after — starting courses and refrain from making exaggerated claims to attract students. For instance, under the “unfair...

The popular impression is that starvation deaths happen mainly because the information about potential victims fails to reach authorities. But can it amount to murder if a starvation death is caused despite adequate warning? A recent Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) report tells us a story of corruption and negligence leading to starvation and death in Odisha. Worse still is the fact that many more villagers await the same fate...

-The Times of India   The National Human Rights Commission took cognizance of a TOI report about clinical trials of a sexual dysfunction drug conducted by Indore's government doctors on mentally-ill patients in private clinics. The commission issued a notice to the Madhya Pradesh chief secretary asking him to submit a report within four weeks. The NHRC also directed the chief secretary to inform if the doctors followed ICMR guidelines while getting approval...

-The Hindu   All measures have been taken to maintain the safe mode of critical systems with skeletal staff at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in spite of work coming to a halt at the project site following protests, S.S. Bajaj, Chairman, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), said on Thursday. Interacting with the media on the sidelines of the 43rd annual conference of the Society of Nuclear Medicine (India), Dr. Bajaj said that...

Health care in India, at its finest, matches the standards of international best practice. The knowledge, skill and confidence of its doctors and nurses, the sophistication of available technology, quality of service and five-star hospitality compete with the best in the world. Its relatively low cost has made it an important player in the health tourism sector. However, at the other extreme, publicly funded health care services often do not...