-The Indian Express Having decontrolled petrol and diesel, the government's next focus is on containing fertiliser subsidies. Key to this is decontrol of urea and ushering in a system of crediting subsidy payments directly into the bank accounts of farmers. HARISH DAMODARAN explains the existing subsidy regime and the road ahead. * What's so special about urea decontrol? Urea is the only fertiliser whose maximum retail price (MRP) is still fixed...

-The Indian Express After petrol and diesel, the Narendra Modi government is looking next to deregulate urea. In the works is a three-year plan to decontrol the maximum retail price (MRP) of this fertiliser - currently fixed at Rs 5,360 a tonne or Rs 268 per 50-kg bag - alongside permitting duty-free imports sans any canalisation or restrictions, and credit the subsidy directly into the bank accounts of farmers. Urea imports now...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The government's price control measure for essential medicines has had an unexpected fallout - several of these drugs, including those for treatment of chronic ailments such as high uric acid levels, diabetes and acne, are either in short supply or have gone missing from chemist shops. Among the drugs facing shortage are Zyloric (prescribed for uric acid control), Ocid (acidity), CCM (calcium supplement) and Etroxin (a...

-PTI The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has capped the prices of 43 formulation packs including drugs such as the antibiotic ciprofloxacin, BCG vaccine and the anti-diabetic metformin. "The prices have been fixed / revised in respect of 43 formulation packs, both ceiling and retail price packs, under DPCO, 2013," NPPA said. According to the drug price regulator the manufacturers selling the 43 drugs at maximum retail price higher than the ceiling price...

-The Hindu   An improvement in sanitation and cleanliness will eliminate much of the difference in malnutrition between India and the rest of the world, and across Indian States Historically the greatest advances in longevity and mortality reduction have come not from treatment of individual disease but from public health. This includes modern drainage and sewerage systems (sewage treatment plants), drinking water systems that produce and deliver disease-free water and solid waste disposal...