-Frontline   A Delhi High Court verdict says the State government is bound to ensure that poor and vulnerable sections of society have access to treatment for rare and chronic diseases. SEVEN-YEAR-OLD Mohammed Ahmed Khan looked on helplessly as his father, Sirajuddin, narrated the sordid tale of the loss of four of his children to Gaucher's disease, a rare genetic disease that requires lifelong, exorbitantly expensive enzyme replacement therapy. Sirajuddin, a rickshaw...

-The Times of India   MUMBAI: Obtaining information from Narendra Modi's Gujarat government is not just difficult but practically impossible as was found by RTI activist Anil Galgali. Galgali has been asked to travel to Gujarat and inspect the files personally for the information he had sought. Galgali in March this year had sought information under RTI on the expenses incurred for opposing the appointment of Justice R A Mehta as the...

-The Telegraph   A survey by the state labour department has shown that of 273 tea estates in north Bengal, 107 don't have hospitals. Of the hospitals in the 166 tea gardens, there is no nurse in 116 hospitals, and there are MBBS doctors only in 74. The state of health care in tea gardens has been highlighted in a report prepared by the joint labour commissioner's office in Siliguri. The survey was taken...

-Down to Earth   Kolkata police justify ban on non-motorised transport in the city IN RESPONSE to a public interest petition against the ban on cycles in the city, Kolkata traffic police have said there was an urgent need to restrict the movement of non-motorised transport (NMT) to prevent traffic congestion. The petition was filed at the Kolkata High Court by cyclists and activists in January this year. "Kolkata police have been continuously and...

-Frontline   A study on untouchability practices in 1,589 villages in Gujarat provides critical data for the Dalit movement to shape its interventions at the national and international levels. DESPITE laws making it punishable, untouchability continues to exist in the country in a vicious manner. A study titled "Understanding Untouchability: A Comprehensive Study of Practices and Conditions in 1,589 villages", conducted in Gujarat by the Navsarjan Trust, an organisation that promotes the...