-The Times of India MUMBAI: Roiled by a rash of corruption charges, the Maharashtra government appears to be headed for deeper trouble. An investigation has unearthed the involvement of thousands of officials and politicians in a decade-old fraud, in which Rs 101 crore of public funds were siphoned off and disbursed to 1.49 lakh bogus beneficiaries. Of the numerous recipients of the dole meant for the destitute, the probe found, 19,367...

-Outlook Jammu:  For the second time in a row, Jammu and Kashmir has emerged as the number one state this year for providing better primary health care service, achieving 43 per cent infant mortality lower than the national average of 47 per cent. "The rate of infant mortality in Jammu and Kashmir has come down to 43 per cent which is better than the national average of 47 per cent," an official...

-The Hindustan Times All colleges may soon have to get accredited, and foreign varsities will be able to offer joint degrees with Indian universities – without the enactment of laws making accreditation mandatory and allowing foreign institutions entry into India. With 14 bills aimed at a plethora of higher education reforms stuck at different stages of parliamentary approval, the UPA has decided to try and use existing laws to draw up regulations...

-The Times of India The government is all set to crack the whip on India's shameful pharma-doctor nexus. The National Development Council (NDC), led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, will meet on December 27 to discuss bringing a legislation requiring drug companies to mandatorily disclose payments made to doctors for research, consulting, lectures, travel and entertainment. Doctors involved in ghost writing to promote pharma products will also be disqualified. The official NDC document...

-The Telegraph A children’s vaccine against a stomach infection has triggered controversy with some doctors claiming there is not enough data to show it is effective in India and accusing a leading drug company of using a misleading advertisement to promote the vaccine. GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (GSK) has stopped the advertisement for the vaccine intended to protect children from potentially life-threatening rotavirus infections after the advertising industry’s self-regulating body upheld a doctor’s complaint...