INTERVIEWS
‘300 doctors in districts trained as specialists’
When patients in rural areas need specialty medical care, they invariably have to seek it in cities. How then can district hospitals be upgraded to handle such cases? While improving infrastructure is important, it is equally necessary to enable MBBS physicians in rural areas to acquire specialized degrees where they
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‘Tensions between Centre, states going out of hand’
RELATIONS between the Centre and the states have been fraught. A recent meeting of NITI Aayog was not attended by the Opposition-ruled states with the exception of West Bengal whose chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, walked out half-way, saying she was being ignored. Being in control and centralizing power have been
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‘Spending on people always is productive spending’
Political parties have been trying to outdo one another at election time in promising free benefits to people. There has been criticism that this largesse is purely in search of votes. Frenzied giveaways in the heat of the moment risk being too much of a burden when ensconced in office.
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‘Science shows a major quake is overdue in the Himalayas’
From imploding glaciers to landslides, floods and torrential downpours, natural disasters have been happening one after the other in the Himalayas in recent times, making life in the mountains seem more vulnerable than ever before. These unsettling episodes have made news by leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.Â
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‘High-speed rail should be the big move India makes’
MORE Indians are flying than ever before. But in the process is air travel getting too clunky and burdensome? Perhaps it is time to balance the emphasis on flying with fast and efficient train services over short inter-regional distances. An opportunity beckons in linking up cities big and small and
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‘AI should be used to help doctors, not replace them’
With the arrival of artificial intelligence (AI), the time is here to consider its implications for public healthcare. Currently, AI is an expensive and corporation-grown technology. Private hospitals will flaunt it. But for the tens of millions of people awaiting medical services, how AI is developed and deployed will determine
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‘People should get into the sanitation business’
FOUR years ago, Raees Mohammad, with a PhD in English and a stint as an additional lecturer behind him, decided to return to his hometown, Kotagiri, in Tamil Nadu to get into sanitation. He was formerly known as Ravichandra Bathran. Being a Dalit, he had chosen to convert to Islam.
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