Plans are afoot to cap the number of subsidised LPG cylinders at six to eight per annum to reduce the losses of state-run oil firms and bring down the burgeoning subsidy bill. Oil ministry officials said consumers might have to pay more for every additional cylinder, and the amount would be gradually linked to market rates. Sources said the finance ministry had asked the oil ministry to revisit its proposal made last...

-The Times of India The Rio +20 summit grabbed much LIMelight with its focus on sustainable development this month, but a smaller event held in Hungary threw the spotlight on another equally pressing aspect of development: the challenges of urbanisation. The growing footprint of cities could very well determine the future path of sustainable development. The conference organised by the Global Development Network, an international conglomeration of researchers and institutes comes at...

The government plans to roll out a nationwide free medicine scheme by November, which will offer quality essential drugs to all the patients in state-run hospitals and treatment centres, a senior health ministry official said. LC Goyal, additional secretary in the ministry of health and family welfare, said the scheme would offer 348 essential drugs as well as their combinations to patients. These drugs account for about 28 per cent of...

-Down to Earth But public sector, too. needs quality improvement, say researchers from University of California What should cash strapped low- and middle-income countries do to improve access to health care? Should they strengthen the public health sector or the private sector? The question remains unresolved, but often funds are redirected from the public exchequer to the private health sector, even though, there is not enough data to guide policy. Recently, the...

I personally feel we have no option but to move gradually towards organic farming. I am not someone who usually goes shopping for vegetables or even other food stuff. My present professional requirements don’t allow me this luxury. But I remember when I was a child I would often accompany my mother or my aunt when they went shopping for vegetables, fruits and other food stuff. I remember being thoroughly bored...