-The Telegraph New Delhi: A leading cancer specialist has called on the government to investigate whether a "tobacco lobby" has influenced arms of the government to initiate action against public health organisations engaged in India's tobacco control efforts. Kailash Sharma, director of academics at the Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, has cited leaked government and tobacco industry documents to seek a probe into whether a Union home ministry note allegedly depicting tobacco control...

-The Times of India Punjab, the leader of green revolution during the '70s, has become disreputable for farmers' suicides in last two decade or so. Usually, these suicides are attributed to farmers' indebtedness to banks and commission agents. However, it is to be noted that bank credit has played a pivotal role in investment into tubewells, tractors, farm mechanization, horticulture, dairy, poultry and forestry all over India, and especially in Punjab and...

-Frontline.in The death of nearly 60 children in Gorakhpur because of the unavailability of oxygen can be directly attributed to the larger issue of drastic reduction in budgetary allocations for and the gross neglect of the public health system. THE death of almost 60 children, including infants, in the government-run Baba Raghav Das Medical College Hospital in Gorakhpur within a span of 48 hours raises several issues relating to the state...

-The Hindu Suburban train services on all three lines suspended, to be resumed in phases Mumbai: Heavy and incessant rain in Mumbai, which began in the early hours of Tuesday and continued unabated throughout the day, brought the city to a virtual standstill, with lakhs of people stranded across the city as transport systems collapsed. According to the India Meteorological Department, the city had recorded 297 mm of rain. The BMC, the Mumbai...

-The Times of India GUWAHATI: Crippled by three waves of devastating flood, Assam on Wednesday appealed to China to share hydrological data of Brahmaputra river, which flows through Tibet, with India to help state prepare for the oncoming disaster in advance. State education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that according to central government, China for "mysterious reasons" has not shared the hydrological data. "We appeal to China to share the data. We...