-The Telegraph The 153-year-old law that criminalises gay sex is likely contributing to hidden depression and possibly even substance abuse among homosexuals, mental health professionals campaigning for its repeal have said. The experts have said the Supreme Court's ruling earlier this week re-criminalising gay sex could lead to a surge in depression levels across the community. They have cited international studies that point to higher levels of mental health problems among gay...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Supreme Court order upholding a 153-year-old law that effectively criminalises gay sex has ignored scientific evidence that homosexuality is not deviant in any sense, but merely a variation in human sexual behaviour, experts and lawyers have said. The court has virtually "brushed aside" submissions by medical experts that homosexuality is not a mental health disorder and should not be viewed as a criminal activity, said lawyers...

-Frontline Childhood TB has been neglected for decades, but in the past few years the WHO has begun to realise its real impact in terms of incidence, prevalence and mortality. THE number of annual new tuberculosis (TB) cases in India has been nearly 2.2 million for the past couple of years. Many of these infected people would have been in contact with children aged under five years before being diagnosed and,...

-Down to Earth The free medicine scheme in Rajasthan may benefit Congress Of the many poll sops that Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot doled out in the past two years, the one scheme that seems to have struck the right chord with voters is the initiative to give free essential medicines at government healthcare facilities. The Mukhyamantri Nishulk Dava Yojna, launched in 2011, has offered some hope to the incumbent Congress government,...

-The United Nations The United Nations health agency today released new treatment guidelines for the almost 20 million children under the age of five worldwide who have severe acute malnutrition, including options for allowing them to recover at home, as well as treating those with HIV. "The guidelines are critical because many national health plans currently overlook children with severe acute malnutrition. This can be fatal. If these children don't get the...