Health is a state of mental, social and physical well-being and not merely an absence of disease or infirmity. To achieve this noble objective, India requires health care professionals who are trained in institutions with standardised infrastructure, and the availability of accessible and equitable health care for both the rural and urban populace. Recently, the health sector has been in the news — from the creation of a rural based...

The government's ambitious Socio-economic and Caste Census 2011, the bedrock for many social schemes, is facing a human resource crisis that is likely to delay not only the survey, but also many big-ticket electoral promises of the UPA government, such as the National Food Security Bill. To salvage the situation, the rural development ministry, which is executing the census through state governments, recently approached the Registrar General of India (RGI) for...

A nun from Kerala, known for her decade-long agitation that ensured villagers were adequately compensated before a coal mining company was allowed to begin operations, was murdered near her home in Pakur district last night. Sister Valsa John (53) was dragged out from her rented house in Pachuara village, 60km from the district headquarters, around 10.30pm and attacked by a gang with weapons, resulting in her immediate death, said IG Arun...

Putting aside their earlier differences, the teams of social activists Anna Hazare and Aruna Roy have broadly agreed to come together on the anti-graft lokpal bill ahead of Parliament’s winter session, which begins next week. The development followed a series of meetings between Hazare-led India Against Corruption and Roy’s National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) to narrow down their differences on the bill. Both sides confirmed the development. “We had...

If Uttar Pradesh was to be declared a separate country today, it would be the sixth-largest nation. With a total population at par with Brazil, population density comparable to that of the UK and per-capita income similar to Kenya's, it indicates the paradox of its citizen occupying the same space as his Latin and UK counterparts, yet living in conditions similar to those in Africa. Setting this hypothesis aside, let us...