-DNA Country’s first chief information commissioner (CIC), Wajahat Habibullah, told law and mass communication students about the true strength of the Right To Information (RTI) Act, 2005. He said RTI Act is not a weapon to be used against the government but to strengthen the system, exposing the weaknesses within its functioning. He was speaking at a daylong workshop on ‘RTI and media—Partners for priority’ organised by Symbiosis Institute of Media and...

-The Indian Express   Increasing farm production and removing market imperfections would help in controlling prices of commodities, a report has said. The report on 'State of Indian Agriculture 2011-12', tabled in the Lok Sabha, said that the principal factors behind the higher levels of inflation in the recent period are constraints in production and distribution especially in high value items such as pulses, fruits and vegetables, egg and meat. Increase in prices can...

In a landmark decision, India’s intellectual property office on Monday allowed Hyderabad-based Natco Pharma Ltd to make and sell a copycat version of German drug maker Bayer AG’s patented cancer treatment Nexavar. It’s the first time that an Indian company has been granted the so-called compulsory licence to market a generic version of a patented drug. The drug, patented by Bayer in India in 2008, is used in the treatment of...

-Reuters India's move to strip German drugmaker Bayer of its exclusive rights to a cancer drug has set a precedent that could extend to other treatments, including modern HIV/AIDS drugs, in a major blow to global pharmaceutical firms, experts say.  On Monday, the Indian Patent Office effectively ended Bayer's monopoly for its Nexavar drug and issued its first-ever compulsory license allowing local generic maker Natco Pharma to make and sell the drug...

One of the key factors to inclusive growth is financial inclusion for all. Financial inclusion refers to universal access to a wide range of banking solutions and financial services in a fair, predictable and transparent manner at affordable costs. The poor tend to be ignored because the transaction costs in serving them are high. Initiatives that reduce these costs will allow service providers to begin thinking of financial services for...