-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: Civil society group All India Drug Action Network (AIDAN) has sent legal notices to Niti Aayog CEO and secretaries to the health ministry, department of pharmaceuticals and department of industrial policy and promotion over their talks to cut powers of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority. The group has termed the move “anti-national” and “anti-people”, adding that it affects an ongoing case at the Supreme Court over various...

-The Hindu Paddy stubble, unlike wheat residue, isn’t valuable animal feed. Incentivising biomass-based power plants in Punjab and Haryana will help north India breathe easier. Delhi has registered its worst air quality in recent times. This has prompted Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to call it a “gas chamber”. Pollution in different parts of the capital has touched hazardous levels with potentially serious health effects on the rich and poor alike, especially on...

-Livemint.com International Fund for Agricultural Development calls on govts in the Asia-Pacific region to develop targeted policies and invest in promoting inclusive development of rural areas New Delhi: Inclusive rural transformation is essential to eliminate poverty and hunger and to build inclusive and sustainable societies, according to a report compiled by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The rural development report 2016, released in New Delhi on Monday, points out that policies,...

-The Hindu ‘Cost of an inpatient episode is much higher in private sector’ Bulk of the total public money spent in State-level healthcare system is not spent on medical services, but goes to wages and salaries of human resource, reveals a study of health accounts of six States. Wages and salaries account for 86 per cent of the total public expenditure in Punjab, 72 per cent in Maharashtra, 65 per cent in Kerala,...

-The Hindu ‘It has reduced socioeconomic disparities in healthcare’ A new study brings in first conclusive evidence of the role played by Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) in reducing ‘socioeconomic disparities’ existing in maternal care. The JSY was launched in 2005 as part of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) to improve maternal and neonatal health by promotion of institutional deliveries (childbirth in hospitals). According to a working paper by Ruchi Jain (NCAER), Sonalde Desai...