-The Times of India In a first for a medical device, the public interest provision in the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) 2013 was used by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority to cap the price of knee implants. The NPPA cited "exorbitant prices being charged from patients in a non-regulated market" and "a failed market system where asymmetry of information between patient and the doctor has resulted into unethical practices and...

-The Hindu Concern over security features and embedded programmes of handsets; motivated by data leakage to other countries Concerned about instances of Indian Mobile phone users’ contact lists, details and text messages being leaked to other countries, including China, the government has asked all firms selling smartphone handsets in the country to share details of the processes they follow to ensure there is no possibility of data thefts or leakages from their...

-Livemint.com The caste networks will disappear when the market economy starts to function efficiently The caste system is arguably the most distinctive feature of Indian society. The Indian population is divided into four hierarchical classes, or varnas, with a large sub-population of untouchables excluded entirely from the system. Within each of these classes, and among the untouchables, are thousands of castes, or jatis. The central rule in Hindu society is that individuals...

-The Indian Express   Niti Aayog proposal for privatising public hospitals is ill-designed, driven by ideology more than welfare The corporate hospitals have been resting their gaze on public hospitals for long: Land, doctors and patients. Finally, in the Niti Aayog, they have found a sympathetic collaborator. As per media reports, the Aayog is all set to push states to privatise well functioning district hospitals in the Tier 2 and 3...

-The Hindu 'Privacy argument will hit governance' Highlighting the need for a comprehensive law on data protection, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) informed a nine-judge Bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday that the Centre has constituted a committee of experts, led by former Supreme Court judge, Justice B.N. Srikrishna, to identify “key data protection issues” and suggest a draft data protection Bill. Appearing before the Bench led by Chief Justice...