NRHM needs to revitalise systems, monitor their functional performance and investigate their impact on the indices of health. The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was launched in 2005 to bring about a dramatic improvement in the health system and health status of people in rural India. It seeks to provide universal access to health care, which is affordable, equitable, and of good quality. It aims at making architectural corrections to basic...

Confusion continues to reign in the debate on microFinance that has unfolded following the promulgation of the Andhra ordinance, soon to be replaced by Andhra Pradesh Micro Finance Institutions (Regulation of Money Lending) Act, 2010. A key confusion has been that microFinance is a major instrument of poverty alleviation. Going by the available scientific evidence and agreement among scholars, to-date, there exists no compelling study linking the expansion of microFinance to...

Concerned at the rising food inflationary trend, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday hinted at more steps to check the rising prices, even as food inflation surged to a 10-week high of 14.44 per cent. The Cabinet Committee on Prices, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, met in the evening to review the situation and expressed concern at the spurt in the prices of eggs, fruits, vegetables, milk and other...

The former Union Minister, Arun Shourie, has opposed any probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) into the 2G spectrum scam, stating that it would become an excuse for the government to slow down the prosecution process. Mr. Shourie said at a meeting organised by an NGO, Manthan, here on Thursday that a swift and speedy prosecution was required in the case, but the JPC would take two years to complete...

Public outrage at the sentencing of physician and rights activist Binayak Sen continued on Tuesday, with philosopher Noam Chomsky, historian Romila Thapar and 80 others, including leading academics, writers and journalists, signing a joint statement condemning the “unbelievable savagery” of the sentence. Urging his immediate release as well as the early hearing of his appeal “with enlightened reason” by the higher judiciary, the statement said: “The damage done by this shocking...