-The Indian Express Institutionalising a mandatory process of consultation and dialogue would democratise not just law-making, but the state itself The formal institutions of India's parliamentary democracy have provided little space for citizens' participation in the making of laws. This has not, however, prevented citizens and citizens' groups from making significant attempts to watch, critique and contribute to the process. In fact, in recent years, it is clear that the lack of...
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Age of graft -CP Chandrasekhar
-Frontline Corruption tends to be greater in periods when there is a state-engineered redistribution of wealth in favour of a few at the explicit or implicit expense of the many. Liberalisation is one such period. IT cannot be verified and may not be true. But, the view that the record of graft and corruption during the two-term, nine-year rule of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is the worst in India's post-Independence...
More »Indian Express-ICIJ probe: Vijay Mallya, Ravikant Ruia in tax havens -Ritu Sarin
-The Indian Express The 612 Indians on the list of those who have invested in tax havens such as the British Virgin Islands include two MPs, a former royal and top industrialists. RITU SARIN puts together details of 20 among them SONU LALCHAND MIRCHANDANI Mirchandani is the founder of popular consumer electronics firm Onida. Mirchandani and his wife, Soni, opened a BVI company called Strong Wing Overseas Ltd in 2006 with an authorised...
More »Calling big pharma’s bluff -Dwijen Rangnekar
-The Hindu The lesson from the Supreme Court ruling on Gleevec is that pharmaceutical multinational corporations need to focus research on genuine innovations rather than on ways to evergreen their patents The much awaited Supreme Court judgment on Gleevec has been delivered. Novartis has failed in reversing the rejection of its patent. And, predictably - like a scratched record - there have been suggestions that pharma investments in India will dry...
More »Parliamentary panel raps rural healthcare plan -Anand Kumar
-New Indian Express A Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare has come down heavily on Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad’s ambitious plan to plug the huge shortfall in the rural healthcare sector with science graduates. Expressing surprise at the minister’s proposal, the panel headed by BSP MP Brijesh Pathak said, “Instead of providing doctors in villages, the Centre is coming up with a scheme to get...
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