-The Hindu The government's refrain that it would resort to all procedures, including a joint sitting of Parliament, to legislate a spate of ordinances into Acts of legislature, may come to nothing if the Rajya Sabha is stalled in the next session. For one, a pre-condition for a joint sitting is that a Bill, along with a statement of reasons for promulgating the ordinance, should have been first defeated in one...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: India's patent regulating agency today rejected a US company's patent claim on a drug to treat hepatitis C, raising hopes that generic drug makers could now produce cheaper versions of the medicine. The Indian Patents Controller has denied a patent to sofosbuvir from Gilead, a US biopharmaceutical company that had last year pledged to make the oral drug available in India and 90 other developing countries at $900...

-NDTV Jaipur: A court in Rajasthan today refused to interfere with a controversial government order that set educational prerequisites for contesting village polls, disappointing thousands of candidates who stand disqualified. The High Court said it "cannot interfere with the election process" and asked for more facts on the social impact of the ordinance or Executive order that requires those fighting panchayat elections to have studied till Class 8 in school and...

-The Hindu The vaccine, which is heat stable, is a great Indian success story A meningitis A vaccine (MenAfriVac) manufactured by Serum Institute of India, Pune was approved by WHO a few days ago for use in infants in sub-Saharan African populations. The vaccine will be introduced as part of the routine immunisation programme. "In the four years since its introduction in Africa, MenAfriVac has had an immediate and dramatic impact in breaking...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Indian immigration today stopped a Greenpeace activist from flying to Britain where she intended to tell parliamentarians that a London-registered company's coalmining activities in India were infringing on forest communities' rights. The environmental organisation said its senior campaigner Priya Pillai, who had a valid business visa to visit Britain, was stopped at Delhi airport and denied permission to board her London flight. Her passport was stamped "offloaded". Pillai had...