-The Telegraph Kairana: Ganna, the sugarcane crop, is threatening to overshadow any talk of "Jinnah" and sour the BJP's chances in Monday's test against a combined Opposition in a corner of western Uttar Pradesh. After the shock setbacks in Gorakhpur and Phulpur in March, the Kairana Lok Sabha by-election has become crucial for the BJP. It's also critical for its rivals, offering a test, days after the Karnataka drama, of whether a united...

-Down to Earth Now, government has promised ‘world’s largest health scheme’ whose implementation is not possible, at least in 2018. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) used the phrase ‘quality health for all’ in its manifesto when Narendra Modi was pushing for his prime ministerial candidature in 2014. It gave hope to many who were campaigning for robust healthcare system in India. However, with the government completing four years...

-The Times of India Backed by chief minister Yogi Adityanath, the Uttar Pradesh police has launched a vigorous crackdown on criminals. Some criminals have been killed in encounters and many, out of fear of being gunned down, have surrendered. According to data sourced from police headquarters as many as 1,142 encounters were recorded between March 2017 and January this year, and 38 alleged criminals were killed. Encounter specialists in the police are...

-TheWire.in This is the last full budget of the present government and the last opportunity for it to demonstrate its commitment to India’s health and nutrition. Slow improvements in basic indicators of maternal and child mortality, double burden of communicable as well as non-communicable diseases, high out-of-pocket expenditure, a failing public sector and heavily commercialised private sector characterise the healthcare crisis in India. The year 2017 saw a number of incidents in the...

-Hindustan Times Audit report says most food testing labs in country are ill-equipped. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), India’s constitutionally mandated federal auditor, has cited serious lapses in enforcing food-safety norms in the country, which, it said, could be putting public health at risk. A majority of the country’s food-testing laboratories were poorly managed, the report said. It found that 65 of the 72 state-wide food laboratories were not accredited to the...