-The Economic Times India has some of the best quaternary and tertiary care in the world and is gradually acquiring a name for itself even in the field of 'medical tourism'. Secondary care is still a significant challenge, but even in several smaller towns and district headquarters, there is a growing supply of maternity homes and multi-speciality secondary care facilities. At all of these levels of care, given the large disease burden...

-The Hindu The participants also called for deletion of Sections 9 to 16 of the Bill dealing with the forming of a "Complaints Scrutiny Panel" besides the Oversight Committee With the Lokpal Bill stuck in limbo, a civil society-led national consultation on judicial accountability was held here on Tuesday in which several shortcomings in the Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, 2012, as passed by the Lok Sabha were discussed. The consultation was organised...

-The Times of India The government is likely to incorporate significant amendments to the whistleblowers protection Bill that will keep matters pertaining to national security, public order, Cabinet papers and foreign relations outside the Bill's purview. The exemptions can be seen as a "dilution" of the Bill by activists, but are seen to be necessary after it was pointed out that revealing sensitive details regarding national security could become "lawful" if provisions...

-The Friday Times How are demographics changing in Assam and Bengal? And what does this mean for 'indigenous' communities? Garga Chatterjee considers the argument for territorial purity The Assam state of the Indian Union has seen violence flare up suddenly from July 6th. With more than 40 people reported dead and upwards of one and a half lakh displaced in a week, the Kokrajhar riots between Bodos and Muslims have again brought...

-PTI The government has put a word limit of 500 words for filing an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Besides this, a new format has been devised for filing an appeal to the Central Information Commission under the transparency law. The government has also made it mandatory for an appellant or his authorised representative to appear before the CIC either in person or through video-conferencing, according to new rules notified...