-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...

-Livemint.com State’s response to organised violence in India often hinges on a political cost-benefit analysis Days before the verdict in rape case against Dera Chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, his supporters started gathering in Panchkula. A lot of violence could have been prevented by not letting them come there. Why did the government allow this? The Dera is hardly a benign spiritual organisation. It holds significant political clout and openly declares support...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Union home ministry sources today blamed the Haryana government's "wilful neglect" and "abject surrender to lumpen elements" for yesterday's mayhem by Dera Sacha Sauda followers. "Initial assessment reports from the ground suggest a complete administrative and police failure. There was no leadership and no instruction from the police brass to deal with the mob. The will was lacking," a senior ministry bureaucrat told The Telegraph . "It points to...

-The Indian Express Four years after the tragedy, The Indian Express visited at least 15 disaster-hit villages and towns near Kedarnath, where a majority of the population lives under severe psychological trauma. What makes it worse is the near breakdown of the state’s mental health infrastructure. Kalimath Valley (Gaurikund): On June 12, the search for 23-year-old Prahlad Singh ended. Villagers found him tightening a rope around his neck. “He was about to...

-Hindustan Times Dehradun: Digamber Negi, 37-year-old farmer in picturesque Doon Dwara village on the border of Dehradun-Tehri Garhwal districts, is cursing his fate after monkeys barged into his field a week ago and destroyed vegetable crop. Like Negi, several other villagers have similar plight to share. The village has a population of 320 people and they are dependent only on agriculture. Villagers complain that in the past one decade or so, attacks by...