A RECENT report has brought out the diversity within India, as regards challenges to health. The report titled “India: Health of the nation’s states” is based on a study on disease patterns in India and compares the situation in 1990 and 2016. The study was conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. The study provides estimates of the impact of 333 disease conditions and injuries and 84 risk factors for every state of India from 1990 to 2016.

MARKING the conclusion of centenary celebrations of the October Revolution, a meeting was organised by the CPI(M) on November 7 at MB Bhavan in Hyderabad. State secretariat member of the Party, T Jyothi hoisted the Red Flag. Addressing the meeting held on the occasion, G Nagayya, state secretariat member of the Party, lauded the October Revolution as a beacon light which had given inspiration to peoples in several countries to conduct class struggles for achieving the lofty ideals of well-being of humanity and ensuring equal opportunities to the people.

RECENTLY a unique jatha of youth to Kayyur was organised by the DYFI led by  Muneer Katipalla, DYFI state president, under the slogans “Struggles of the past inspire to take on new challenges” and “Read Chirasmarane and Visit Kayyur”. This was a unique experiment in Karnataka, perhaps even first of its kind in the country. “Chirasmarane” a Kannada novel considered a classic, depicts the historic peasant revolt at Kayyur in the 1940s in the then Malabar (now Kasaragod) district where peasants rose against local landlords.

IN his much publicised annual Vijay Dashmi address to the RSS cadres, Mohan Bhagwat announced that the “Gau Rakshaks have nothing to worry” and they were only doing their patriotic duty. This announcement became necessary because the observations of the Supreme Court took a stern view of cow vigilantism and the union government was subsequently forced to warn vigilante groups to curb their activities. However, Bhagwat said that “patriotic gau rakshaks” should not worry about government pronouncements.

THE recent ordinance passed by the Rajasthan Government amending Criminal Procedure Code to protect corrupt officials/ public servants, serving and former magistrates and judges from being investigated for their misdemeanor and corruption on duty without Government sanction and barring the media from reporting on accusations of such wrong doings, till Government sanctions such a probe, is highly undemocratic, oppressive and an attack on freedom of the press.