If you thought getting a degree from a medical college abroad was enough to fulfill your dream of becoming a doctor. Think again. For you may have graduated from a premier medical schools in the UK or USA but you will not be able to practise in India, till you have cleared a screening test conducted by the Medical Council of India (MCI). According to the new Supreme Court ruling the screening test will also be mandatory for those students who have got MBBS degrees from a country with which India has a reciprocity agreement.

In what is being perceived as the first major trial of strength after the April-May 15th Lok Sabha elections, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), along with their regional allies, will renew their tussle for political sweepstakes in the October 13 assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh.

Ask anybody in Goa, which is the pampered child of the state's economy? The answer, without any doubt, will be mining industry. Reason? For many years mining has been a milch cow for the industrialists of the state. But since last few decades this industry is giving sleepless nights to successive governments in the state. The mining lobby, say insiders, has created a situation in which the face of nearly 10,000 hectares of Goa's lush green bio-diverse forest cover has been pock-marked with brown patches as tonnes of iron-ore are scooped up even in notified wild life sanctuaries without contributing a single penny to the state's coffer in the form of taxes! Sources in the mining industry reveal that large scale mining which is carried out in Bicholim, Sanguem, Sancoale, Khatapar and Molem has left deep scars on the state's forest cover. Let alone the air and water pollution in these areas, intense mining activity has resulted in heavy siltation on forest lands.

It is one of the toughest challenges UPA Government is facing ever since its ascendancy to power in 2004. With nearly half of India's districts being hit by drought that could affect the production of kharif crops due to deficient rainfall during monsoon this year, the country is encountering a situation which is compounded with the tremors of recession. The monsoon rains, which sweep the country from June to September, are running at 28 per cent below normal.

Don't be sure that yellow buck you hold in your hand is original one when you withdraw money from any ATM or bank. The bad money circulation is so high these days that, if the words of BSP MP Brijesh Pathak are to be believed, even an ATM inside Parliament House complex is not spared. Brijesh Pathak, while taking part in the debate on the general budget, made a shocking disclosure in the Rajya Sabha claiming that he had recently got a fake currency note of Rs 500 denomination from "an ATM inside the Parliament House complex". He wondered whether anything could be achieved from the budget "if we cannot stop circulation of fake currency notes in the country".

Will the voices of smaller states be ever heard in this country? Is this justified that a bigger state usurps the logical rights of a smaller state over natural resources? Can the aim of inclusive growth be achieved like this? These are the few questions that are being asked by the people of Goa, who feel neglected and left high and dry while dealing with Mandovi/ Mhadei/ Mahadayi interstate river water dispute with the neighbouring state, Karnataka. It's been nearly a decade that no agency, be it the executive or judiciary, has come out with a proper and justified solution for the people of Goa allaying their fear that Karnataka's attempts of diverting waters from a water deficient basin to a water surplus basin will severely damage the eco-system of Goa and seriously hamper their way of life.

Next assembly election in West Bengal, the call of maa, maati & manush and 'aam aadmi ke saath' cast shadow when Mamata Banerjee presented the first budget of her second stint as Railways Minister. Steps of no increase in passenger fares, no hike in freight rates, Izzat for poor and unorganized workers, introduction of Yuva for youngsters and Duronto for long distance travellers speak clearly about the approach of UPA government in general and Mamata Banerjee in particular for coming days.

Slowly and steadily the swine flu has crossed the continent and reached Asia as well. With a number of cases getting registered and confirmed due to swine flu, India has finally fallen into its trap. Weeks ago when health officials declared that India was unaffected by the influenza in contrast to that India has identified 50 cases of swine flu within its borders. The first case was tested positive in Hyderabad when a man travelling from New York via Dubai and New Delhi was screened at the airport and was reported positive in Hyderabad. He was immediately sent for examination. "He was shifted to the identified isolation facility under strict infection control. His samples were tested positive for influenza H1N1," stated a statement issued by the health ministry.