-Live Mint The prime source of financing will be from general taxation or public exchequer, says Planning Commission Government-run hospitals may stop charging for primary Services such as investigative tests as India attempts to provide universal health coverage to all its citizens. “No fee of any kind would be levied on primary healthcare Services with the prime source of financing being from general taxation/public exchequer,” the Planning Commission says in its latest health...

-The Hindu Allotted fake Provident Fund accounts by contractors Workers hired through multiple contractors by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) here have alleged that companies have been denying them their minimum wages and have allotted fake Provident Fund and health insurance accounts to siphon off their money. Questioned about this, officials said that while they were aware of the workers’ complaints, they had not yet blacklisted any company, despite the fact that...

-The Hindu One in eight people, or 12.5 per cent of the world’s population, is chronically undernourished today says the latest State of Food Insecurity (SOFI) report. The grave ethical and practical implications of this abominable statistic from the three Rome-based United Nations agencies are obvious. Not least because mass hunger is a man-made phenomenon. Historically, hunger and starvation have been caused not by shortfalls in food production but rather by...

-Pratirodh.com Biometric data based 12 digit Unique Identification (UID)-Aadhaar Number linked welfare schemes is being bulldozed with 2014 elections in mind with the ulterior motive of altering voting behavior of the citizens by creating a ‘universal identity infrastructure’ linked to ‘unified payment infrastructure’.   Ahead of next parliamentary elections, with the launch of 21st crore UID-Aadhaar Number and Aadhaar Enabled Service Delivery (AESD) on October 20, 2012 contemptuously ignores Parliament, Parliamentary Committee,...

-The Hindustan Times The number of infants (below age of one year) succumbing in state has gone down by three for every 1000 children born in the course of last year. Good news, but with a rider. The state continues to retain the infamous tag of being the worst place to be born in the country as it still records the highest infant mortality rate (IMR) among the 29 states and...