-Outlook Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government's 'Samajwadi Ambulance Service' may have been marred by controversy due to its name, but the ambulances under the scheme have seen the births of over 9,500 children in the state. "The ambulance service, which started on September 14 last by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has become birth place for 9,644 children. It included three families, which had twins and two families which had triplets. All these...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Muslim leaders urged Congress to pass the communal violence bill, putting a tough poser to the party that has failed to promulgate the legislation promised in its election manifesto. The strong pitch for the legislation, with Muzaffarnagar riots as the reason, came at an interaction organized by Congress with civil society working among minorities to elicit their views on issues to be included in the 2014...

-BBC A survey done earlier this year shows that public facilities in the poorest regions of India have steadily expanded, improving the lives of people there, writes development economist Jean Dreze. Once upon a time, not so long ago, public facilities in the poorest districts of India were few and far between. Most people were left to their own devices and they lived in the shadow of hunger, insecurity and exploitation, with no...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Many doctors across India have been offered prepaid cash cards as gifts by drug industry representatives over the past three years to try and influence prescriptions for patients, pharmaceuticals sales executives have said. While drug companies have long used largesse as "brand reminders" for doctors, a prepaid cash card leaked by an industry whistleblower appears to be the first evidence to suggest doctors are also being offered cash...

-Economic and Political Weekly     India is home to the largest number of children, 43 crore, in the world. Their care SITuation is in a shambles. Although, the new National Policy for Children reaffirms that they are "national assets", the budgetary outlays are not sufficient to take care of their health, education, protection and development. Manzoor Ali (manzoorali.ali@gmail.com) is with the Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability, New Delhi. Please click here to download...