Patna : There is one doctor for every 17,685 persons in Bihar, Health Minister Mangal Pandey has said in the Assembly.
Replying to a query by RJD's Akhtarul Islam Shaheen during the Question Hour yesterday, Pandey said that doctor-population ratio in Bihar is 1:17,685, as against the national average of 1:11,097.
At present, there are 6,830 doctors working in the state, including those in medical colleges, he said.
Shaheen had asked Pandey about the doctor-population ratio in view of World Health Organisation's (WHO) set parameter of one doctor for every 1,000 people.
The minister said there are 10 lakh registered doctors in the country whereas the number of registered doctors in Bihar stood at 40,043.
Stating that the government is committed to fill the vacant posts of doctors in the state, Pandey said 1,805 general practitioners and 665 specialists have been appointed on the recommendations of Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) in 2016.
Besides, the State Health Society, Patna, is taking steps to appoint specialist doctors under National Health Mission and general doctors under National Urban Health Mission on contract to deal with the shortage of medical practitioners in the state.

Srinagar : Two militants were killed on Saturday in an ongoing gunfight with the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Anantnag district, police said.
“Security personnel from the Rashtriya Rifles, Central Reserve Police Force and the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the state police surrounded Shistargam village on Friday evening following information about a group of holed-up militants.
“As the cordon was tightened, the militants fired at the security forces triggering the gunfight,” police sources said.

Mumbai : The Maharashtra farmer, whose disturbing video of destroying cauliflower crop on his land after he got a paltry amount for the produce went viral on social media, met Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray.

Premsing Chavan, a resident of Pohegaon village in Jalna district, met Thackeray at the latter’s residence ‘Matoshree’ in suburban Bandra. Thackeray handed him a cheque of Rs 1 lakh on behalf of a private organisation, a Sena leader said.

“I destroyed the crop in a fit of rage after getting peanuts for my produce. My friend filmed the act with his mobile,” Chavan had said after the video went viral.
Chavan said he got just Rs 442 in his hand, after deducting transport and other charges, after he sold his cauliflower crop.
“I was so angry that had there been a pesticide available on my farm that day, I would have consumed it and ended my life,” a distraught Chavan had said.
“I grew cauliflower and tomatoes on my land, spending around Rs 40,000 but got only Rs 4,000 for the two crops,” he had said.
After the video once again highlighted the prevailing farm distress, the agriculturist had sought government help.

“The BJP-led government should take note of our plight and ensure remunerative prices for agro produce,” Chavan had said.
The incident came a week after the much-televised kisan long march, where thousands of farmers and tribals from Nashik reached Mumbai, walking 180 km in six days.

The sea of red flags on Mumbai’s roads, which culminated in a public meeting in south Mumbai last week, garnered eyeballs.
Images of the blistered, bleeding feet of women who braved the blazing sun with broken footwear made an impact on newspaper readers and TV viewers.

Hyderabad: Telugu will be made a compulsory subject in all private and government schools across Telangana from academic year 2018-19. A legislation in this regard will be introduced during the ongoing Budget session of the Assembly, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said. "We have decided that Telugu will be taught as a compulsory subject to save the language and protect our culture. It has become a necessity for everyone to study in English medium with changing circumstances. Children's future should not be disturbed, and at the same time Telugu should not be neglected. This is the reason we are putting a condition that even children studying in the English medium should study Telugu," the Chief Minister said.

NEW DELHI: Even as disruptions continue to stymie Parliament's functioning + for the 13th day in a row, a BJP MP has written to the Lok Sabha Speaker proposing a pay cut as punishment.

A peeved Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) MP called the BJP MP's proposal, a case of "the pot calling the kettle black" - "wow", she tweeted.

The BJP MP, Manoj Tiwari, said he was writing to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan "with great anguish" about the disruptions in the Lok Sabha.

"It is ...disturbing to see how public representatives, who are primarily responsible for law-making, are running away from their responsibilities. I, therefore, propose deducting the salary of MPs for their failure to engage in any constructive work. Let's follow the fair practice of No Work No Pay," said Tiwari in his letter, reported ANI.

TRS MP K Kavitha said if the government did its job, MPs wouldn't need to protest.

"This is like 'ulta chor kotwal ko daantein'. No party or MP will want to protest on floor of house,if government of the day (in a )timely fashion addresses their issues," tweeted the TRS MP K Kavitha.

Interestingly, the TRS is accused of stealthy support for the BJP to thwart a no-confidence motion being brought against the Narendra Modi government in the Lok Sabha by regional rivals, the Telugu Desam party (TDP) and the YSR Congress Party. The TRS plans to stay 'neutral' on the motion when it's taken up.

Pre-Friday - when the no-confidence motion was first floated - the TSR was disrupting the House with its own demands for more quota seats for Telangana. The TRS wants to increase reservations in educational institutions and State services to 62% - much beyond the Supreme Court-imposed 50% cap - and has sought its inclusion in the Constitution's Ninth Schedule. 

A host of issues and a host of parties across the political spectrum have been behind the Parliamentary disruptions, or allegedly behind them.