A PILOT study to assess free treatment for the poor in Delhi’s private hospitals, conducted by Oxfam, revealed that most such hospitals are not offering the mandatory free treatment to poor.   The study, held in collaboration with a Delhi-based NGO Sama, was based on the findings of interviews with administrative and finance department officials at nine private hospitals, built on subsidised land obtained from the government. As per a Delhi High Court...

-The Times of India   The public health department has sought chief minister Prithviraj Chavan's intervention to introduce stringent clauses against medicos who complete their education from state-run or civic hospitals but refuse to serve the mandatory one-year rural stint.  According to an official, the government was considering not issuing medical registration certificates--which is mandatory for higher studies, pursuing job in any hospital or even for starting a dispensary of their own-to students...

In one little patch of Maharashtra, a lot, it seems, lies in a name. About 175 girls whose names mean “unwanted” in Marathi will be re-christened in a public ceremony next week in a novel initiative to fight female foeticide. The Satara zilla parishad in west Maharashtra has found in a survey of the district that parents with many girl children often name them Nakusa, Nakoshi or Nakushi, all meaning “unwanted” or...

Mamata Banerjee today appealed to the tribals in the Dooars and the Terai to take their case to the committee formed by the state government to look into the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha demand of bringing the Gorkha-dominated areas of the plains under the hill set-up. The tribals are opposed to the Morcha demand and have threatened protests and demonstrations if the state government accepts it. “A committee chaired by Justice (Retd) Shyamal...

-PTI   Dismissing charges of any sort of unfair treatment towards Jharkhand on developmental issues, Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said Jharkhand spent only 1,558 crore on MGNREGA programmes. “There is a propaganda that Jharkhand is being discriminated. It is totally wrong. This year Jharkhand could spend only Rs. 1,558 crore on MGNREGA programmes, though it can spend Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 6,000 crore under MGNREGA as it is a...