-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: Civil society group All India Drug Action Network (AIDAN) has sent legal notices to Niti Aayog CEO and secretaries to the health ministry, department of pharmaceuticals and department of industrial policy and promotion over their talks to cut powers of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority. The group has termed the move “anti-national” and “anti-people”, adding that it affects an ongoing case at the Supreme Court over various...

Delhi's air is not fit to inhale. Experts argue that prolonged exposure to toxic air could lead to serious health hazards like heart and lung diseases, various types of cancer etc. But is it the case that the smog, which engulfed the entire National Capital Region (NCR) and many of the north Indian cities during October-November was entirely caused due to burning of firecrackers in Diwali or because of vehicular...

-Hindustan Times Sukhwant Singh, a farmer in Haryana’s Kurukshetra, had most of his 12 acres of agricultural land under paddy. After harvesting his crop, he set the paddy stubble on fire, burning it to the ground within a few hours. Singh and most other paddy growers in Punjab and Haryana, who are facing financial constraints due to falling productivity and dwindling returns, do not care about the ban on stubble burning put...

-The Economic Times Union Minister for Women & Child Development Maneka Gandhi wants to put an end to children consuming empty calories. Instead, she wants them to consume calories rich in nutrition, and her ministry wants to have sachets containing 600-1000 calories of nutrition for children. The plan, brainchild of Gandhi, suggests that the central government will supply the nutrients list and the state(s) can have them made. The sachet will bear...

-The Hindu The massive pollution cloud enveloping northern India every year is a good example of the disconnect between official policy and ground realities. It has been known for long that burning of agricultural waste in the northern States significantly contributes to the poor air quality in large parts of the Indo-Gangetic Basin, with local and cascading impacts felt from Punjab all the way to West Bengal. Harmful fine particulate matter...