Nearly four years after the High Court mandated reservation of 10 per cent beds and 25 per cent out-patient facilities for the poor in private hospitals in Delhi, only some have complied with the order. As per figures provided by Delhi government in an RTI response to Newsline, none of the major hospitals were able to treat the mandated number of patients. The government received 91 complaints about refusal of treatment...

The problem of water shortage in city slums could find an answer in ‘pay-and-use’ water ATMs scheme, which the Delhi government is studying at present. According to the proposal (Newsline has a copy), the water will be filtered at a centrally located plant through reverse osmosis, and supplied to a network of decentralised, “off-grid” and solar-powered ATMs that will be located in areas with low water supply. “Potable water will be sold...

Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce postpones event after ABVP protests screening of Sanjay Kak’s Kashmir film Close on the heels of the cancellation of author Salman Rushdie’s visit to the 7th Jaipur Literature Festival due to the storm over The Satanic Verses, documentary filmmaker Sanjay Kak had to bear the brunt of Hindu fundamentalists. “Voices of Kashmir”, a seminar at the Symbiosis College of Arts and Commerce, Pune, stands indefinitely postponed...

The hunger and malnutrition situation in the country has shown marginal improvement, according to the HUNGaMA report. ONE area that has always bothered policymakers in a growth-obsessed economy is the state of the social sector, in particular figures indicating the numbers of people going hungry or are homeless and children who are out of school, the poor nutritional status of women and children, and the high infant and maternal mortality rates....

When the Right to Education Act was enforced in April 2010, it looked like millions of schoolchildren could dare to dream. The Act guarantees access to schools, a target that has been met, with the enrolment rate at 90% among children in first grade. The Act demands schools to meet certain requirements, including infrastructure (building, libra-ry, kitchen, toilets), teacher-student ratio, teaching hours etc. However, far from helping improve the situation,...