-The Telegraph New Delhi: A disability rights bill the government tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Friday has not only angered activists by ignoring many of their recommendations but also split them. Javed Abidi is leading one side that is holding protests across Delhi demanding passage of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill 2014, arguing that something is better than nothing. "If we oppose this bill, it will be delayed for two...

-The Times of India CHENNAI: The UPA government is likely to introduce the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill in the Parliament during the second leg of the winter session which began on Wednesday. The bill has driven a wedge between disabled rights activists who have widely divergent opinions on the bill, which many see as a watered down version of the document made available by the government on the website of...

-The Times of India CHENNAI: The country's disabled population has increased by 22.4% between 2001 and 2011. The number of disabled, which was 2.19 crore in 2001, rose in 2011 to 2.68 crore-1.5 crore males and 1.18 crore females. Rural areas have more disabled people than urban areas. In Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir and Sikkim, the disabled account for 2.5% of the total population, while Tamil Nadu and Assam...

-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: Trained health workers and even schoolteachers can provide effective care to patients with an array of Mental Disorders and make up for shortages of psychiatrists, medical researchers from India and Europe said on Wednesday. The researchers, who examined experiments done in 22 developing countries including India, have found that doctors, nurses and even lay health workers untrained in mental health or neurology can provide health care to mentally...