THE past year once again provides a clear picture of neglect of public health by the BJP led government and further, a disdain towards policies that promote welfare. The year has seen several outbreaks of infectious diseases such as dengue and chikungunya, often reaching epidemic proportions in many parts of the country. The epidemics have laid bare the inability of the country’s health systems to protect people’s health.

THE story of the failure of the reforms will not be complete unless we also take into account the failure of the privatisation of distribution. This is what we will examine in the second part of our examination of the power sector reforms.DISTRIBUTION PRIVATISATION – THE STORY OF RELIANCE IN ORISSA & DELHIThe distribution sector reforms are more difficult than inducting private sector in generation. The reasons are obvious.

SO here we are once again, winter and a blanket of severe pollution in Delhi and the north Indian plains in general. These columns carried an article on the subject last year too, and it is déjà vu now. All concerned authorities are blaming the others, multiple problems are being pointed out, and a smog of confusing data to rival the smoke haze is being put out by numerous agencies and experts. The chief minister of Delhi has ordered a series of emergency measures, and the Courts have added their own.

FAKE nationalism of the Hindutva variety is not limited to only the national movement, where the RSS was conspicuous by its absence. It is also manifest in Modi's Make in India, which is an offer to global capital to exploit India's cheap labour, along with various tax breaks and subsidised land. This is in contrast to how self reliance and development was seen in the national movement. It saw developing knowledge as integral to the process of developing the country and its people.

THE government finally issued the long awaited gazette notification for the sharply compressed timetable for introduction of Bharat Stage VI (BS-VI) emission norms for vehicles and other petroleum combustion engines, broadly conforming to the Euro VI emission norms. It had earlier released an almost identical draft of this policy in January 2016 and had given all stakeholders time to respond.Currently and as of 2010, Bharat State IV (BS-IV) emission norms prevail in 13 metropolitan and other major cities, while the less stringent Bharat Stage III norms prevail in the rest of the country.