-The Hindu State has the worst patient-doctor ratio and most number of centres without electricity, water supply or good roads New Delhi: Facing a shortfall of 2,277 doctors — against the required strength of 3,621 — and with 942 primary health centres (PHCs) working without electricity, regular water supply and all-weather motorable approach road, Uttar Pradesh’s PHCs have the worst patient:doctor ratio and infrastructure in the country to cater to the poorest...

-The Hindu People may have long stopped speaking Sanskrit, but I don’t find a decline in interest in the subject, says Sarathi Hembram. Kolkata: Sarathi Hembram lives in a rural pocket of West Bengal, where life is largely untouched by the acrimonious political arguments vitiating social media, but she is aware what’s going on in the Banaras Hindu University at the moment. Thanks to TV, she has got to know about the protests...

-Livemint.com * At a time when rural incomes are sliding, the only existing safety net for the farmer is failing * High costs of reinsurance due to erratic weather, a spike in claims, political interference in crop loss estimation are reasons that forced some insurers to leave the business NEW DELHI: Santosh Kumar’s first brush with insurance left a bitter aftertaste. A farmer’s son, 26-year-old Kumar from Bihar’s Araria district felt betrayed when...

-Down to Earth Antibiotics are indiscriminately used on food crops in several parts of the country, adding to the burden of antibiotic resistance    Dharampal Singh just cannot stop admiring the cauliflowers glistening with beads of dew on his farm near the Yamuna banks in Delhi. Next to the plot, rows of radishes, spinach, fenugreek and bottle gourds lie shining in the morning sun. “These untainted vegetables fetch me a premium in the...

-Livemint.com * Leaked official data shows poverty is rising, but we won’t get a confirmation till at least 2023. That’s unfortunate * Neither has the government released the report of an expert panel, nor provided any evidence about the nature and extent of divergence with other administrative data On Friday, the ministry of statistics and programme implementation (Mospi) announced that the data and reports of the 75th round of the National Statistical Office...