-The Telegraph There is a perception that the ICMR is bureaucratic and lacks transparency in decision-making on the proposals it receives: Researcher Poor response has hit efforts by India’s apex health research agency to enhance the country’s pool of medical researchers through fellowship training programmes and to bring back Indian researchers from abroad, a Parliamentary panel has noted. The Parliamentary standing committee on health has expressed concern that the Indian Council of Medical...

-The Wire Science There is reason to celebrate the drop of India’s maternal mortality rate: the decline is consistent and continuous, indicating that the reproductive health of India’s women is getting better. However, a closer look at the state-level MMR data reveals that the all-India three-year average of maternal deaths camouflages the performance of some states. We can predict that the Empowered Action Group states and Assam will have to redouble their...

-The Telegraph Rajasthan chief minister has shown the way to other states on how to take pro-people decisions: Ajay Maken Days after the Ashok Gehlot government restored the old pension scheme in Rajasthan, the Congress on Friday demanded this for the entire country. Fulfilling a long-standing demand, Gehlot announced in the budget placed on Wednesday that the old pension scheme was being restored for employees appointed on and after January 1, 2004. The...

-Down to Earth Since its launch in 2016, India’s flagship crop insurance scheme has seen a consistent fall in acreage and number of farmers covered Even if a single farmer’s crop is damaged in a village he will get the benefits of insurance  - Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said while launching the government’s flagship Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) from Madhya Pradesh in 2016. The words, however, mean nothing to the farmers...

-The New Indian Express Having a uniform rate will also be convenient in terms of calculations and indexation in one go for the entire country rather than different States/UTs bringing in their own dynamics, the report said NEW DELHI:  A parliamentary standing committee has flagged the disparity in wage rates in various states under the rural employment scheme MGNREGS, calling it baffling and unjustified. While in states like Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Jharkhand, the...