-Deccan Herald A 15-year-old girl from Siwan, Bihar, was admitted in critical condition to the burns unit of Safdarjung hospital, after a classmate threw acid on her leading to complete blindness in one eye, burnt face, and breathing, speaking and hearing impairment. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has asked the Bihar government to release immediate financial assistance for the child’s treatment.  Tuba Tabassum, a class-X student, left for tuition...

-Frontline There are no effective vaccines against Japanese encephalitis, but its spread can be controlled in India through vector management.  JAPANESE ENCEPHALITIS, or JE, has become endemic in many parts of the country, occurring repeatedly in epidemic form in many of them—for instance, in parts of Gorakhpur in northern Uttar Pradesh. One can expect JE-type epidemics year after year in States where prolonged drought-like conditions are followed by heavy monsoons. This leads to...

-Outlook Hoogly (West Bengal): Seven persons have died after drinking illicit liquor at Payradanga village in this district, police said today. About 20 villagers drank liquor on Sunday night and fell sick, following which they were brought to Panduah rural hospital. After their condition deteriorated, they were shifted to the Imambara Sadar Hospital at Chinsurah. While one person died on way to Chinsurah, two others died during treatment there, officials said. As some of...

-Outlook Delhi government will simplify rules and regulations for extending medical facilities to journalists accredited with it, Health Minister A K Walia said today. He said government has also decided to extend the medical facilities to journalists on par with government employees in its hospitals. "We will make medical scheme for journalists more comprehensive and convenient so that journalists and members of their families get the best medical care and treatment," he said...

-Live Mint While natural disasters grab our attention, everyday events like illness drag most people into poverty  In a small town of Gujarat, I met Chandibai, a woman, about 50 years of age. Fifteen years previously, her husband, Gokalji, had owned a general-purpose shop in the town centre. The family also owned a house and some agricultural land. In 1989, Gokalji developed an illness that confined him to bed, sometimes at home...