-IANS New Delhi: Health experts Monday urged the government to put oil and fat rich products under the Public Distribution System (PDS) so that people belonging to the lower income groups get enough of such products to protect them from diseases caused by their deficiency. The experts said that due to poor purchasing power, children in the lower income groups remain far behind the figure of 2,400 calories, the average number of...

-The Indian Express Recent announcements on possible changes to the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and restrictions on its coverage are baffling and worrisome. The passing of the MGNREGA and the Right to Information Act heralded a new vision of citizenship and state responsibility. The former created a safety net for the rural poor. The latter gave taxpayers and voters an opportunity to bridge the gap between state...

-The Indian Express   Gandhinagar: Acting on a petition that, among other prayers, seeks compensation of Rs 5 lakhs for the families of 692 farmers who reportedly committed suicide in Gujarat between January 2003 and October 2012, a bench of Supreme Court issued notice to Gujarat Government directing it to file reply in four weeks. The petitioner group has been identified as Citizens Resource & Action Initiative (CRANTI). It had earlier,...

-The Indian Express The era of globalised markets is also an era of globalised sovereignties. Nation states must constantly sync their policies with global constituencies of policies and citizens. At times, domestic disharmony is the price nation states may be required and willing to pay. The case in point here is the proposed review of the intellectual property rights (IPR) policy, particularly those clauses that are related to pharmaceutical patent policy....

-Kafila.org Dear Prime Minister Modi ji, We, the undersigned, wish to share with you some of our concerns on India's position on intellectual property (IP), particularly in the context of bilateral relations between the United States of America and India. We gather from the US-India Joint Statement dated 30 September 2014 that the Indian Government (a)greeing on the need to foster innovation in a manner that promotes economic growth...