Govt can help by raising public spending on healthcare The Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance, which represents a large section of the country’s pharmaceutical companies, has taken the rather unusual step of asking the government to come to the aid of the industry, which has seen a string of foreign acquisitions of Indian players. None of these acquisitions is hostile. So, where does the government come in, particularly when there is no...
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The medium, message and the money by P Sainath
The Assembly elections saw the culture of “coverage packages” explode across Maharashtra. In many cases, a candidate just had to pay for almost any coverage at all. C. Ram Pandit can now resume his weekly column. Dr. Pandit (name changed) had long been writing for a well-known Indian language newspaper in Maharashtra. On the last day for the withdrawal of nominations to the recent State Assembly elections, he found himself...
More »The zero tolerance imperative by Arvind Singhal
Four disturbing trends that need tackling are food adulteration, drug counterfeiting, environmental degradation and corruption The strong and sustained growth of the Indian economy over the last 17-18 years has delivered many very creditable outcomes for its people at large. While a lot more needs to be done on a sustained basis for many more decades if the growth has to be truly inclusive for all Indians, this should not...
More »Taking goals of NREGA-I forward
Envisioning NREGA-II is important to realise the unfulfilled dreams of NREGA-I, which has failed thus far to break free of the shackles of a debilitating past. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) promises a revolutionary demand-driven, people-centred development programme. Planning, implementation and social audit by gram sabhas and gram panchayats can engender millions of sustainable livelihoods following initial rounds of wage employment. But NREGA-I has had to battle against...
More »Hunger Overview
KEY TRENDS • As per the 2019 Global Hunger Index report, neighbouring countries such as China (GHI score: 6.5; GHI rank: 25), Sri Lanka (GHI score: 17.1; GHI rank: 66), Myanmar (GHI score: 19.8; GHI rank: 69), Nepal (GHI score: 20.8; GHI rank: 73), Bangladesh (GHI score: 25.8; GHI rank: 88) and Pakistan (GHI score: 28.5; GHI rank: 94) have outperformed India (GHI score: 30.3; GHI rank: 102) *13 • As per the 2018 Global Hunger Index report,...
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