EU is pushing India and Canada to sign free trade agreements that will hurt their generic drugs—and the outrage is global After months of prevarication, the European Union has stated publicly that the free trade agreement (FTA) it signs with India will include provisions for data exclusivity because “it is extremely important for research and innovation’’. That’s what European Union ambassador Daniele Smadja told journalists in Delhi on January 21. Smadja’s...

A shocking statistic has revealed that India is highly vulnerable to harassment towards women, with one woman molested every 26 minutes. The study by the South India Cell for Human Rights Education and Monitoring said one woman is raped every 34 minutes, while among 15 million girls born every year, one-fourth don’t get to celebrate their 15th birthday. Many villages, despite dearth of basic amenities, have ultrasound machines to check the...

Maharashtra government would soon set up special courts in every division for speedy trial of atrocity cases keeping in view the huge pendency, which has jumped to over 5,000 and the low conviction rate. A decision in this regard was taken yesterday by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan in the backdrop of Union social justice and empowerment minister Mukul Wasnik's visit to the state last week, to review the implementation of the...

The government refused to budge on the controversial RTI amendments in a meeting with the National Advisory Council on Tuesday. In fact, the wedge between the Sonia Gandhi-led council and the government got deeper with yet another ministry — this time the Union ministry of personnel — defying the thinktank and not entertaining the group's foray into its turf. Earlier the PMO, with the Planning Commission and the food ministry...

The ministries of environment and coal may still be bickering over the classification of ' go' and ' no- go' areas for mining , but an International Labour Organisation ( ILO)- funded report on India's indigenous population claims that more than half the country's mineral wealth is obtained by violating the Rights of tribals. 'India and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples', a report prepared by the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact with...