A difference of opinion between two ministries has put paid to a six-month-old proposal to extend a government health insurance scheme for the poor to those working under the government’s flagship job guarantee programme. The Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) offers Cashless hospitalization benefit up to Rs30,000 for a poor family of five. Nearly 11 million families have been issued smart cards since the scheme was introduced through the labour ministry...

The Medical Council of India which has issued guidelines that call on doctors to reject gifts and sponsorships from drug companies today indicated that it was not in a position to police the norms. The MCI, the apex regulator of medical education and practice in the country, has issued a code of conduct that prohibits doctors from accepting gifts, payments, or travel assistance and hospitality from pharmaceutical companies. Sections of...

The Bar Association of Punjab and Haryana High Court passed a resolution on Tuesday, condemning the Chief Justice of India (CJI) KG Balakrishnan and former Attorney General (AG) of India, Milon Banerjee for giving a clean chit to the controversial high court judge, Nirmal Yadav in the Cash-in-bag scam. The CJI has been condemned by the Bar for his "willful and palpable abdication of duty" in denying sanction for prosecution...

Study claims modern farming threatens nomadic cattle herding.  Nomadic herders who move their cattle ceaselessly across some of the harshest environments in the world in search of grazing land are vital for Africa’s economic prosperity, but their way of life is being undermined by governments, conservationists and large-scale farmers, according to a study. Millions of hectares of land traditionally used by pastoralists in Ethiopia, Senegal, Mali, Chad, Kenya and other...

A FEW SLEEPY villages in the hills, about an hour’s drive from Pune, are suddenly buzzing with activity. Lavasa Corporation, a subsidiary of the Hindustan Construction Company (HCC), is spending Rs 140,000 crore to ‘clean out’ these villages (read tribals and marginal farmers) and build a world-class city in its place. Those pushing the project argue that urban India, bursting at its seams, just cannot cope with the large-scale migration from...