-Frontline Medecins Sans Frontieres warns that the free or regional trade agreements that are being negotiated, which seek to strengthen current patent regimes, are a potential threat to the developing world’s access to life-saving drugs, which it sources mostly from India. WHEN NELSON MANDELA’S GOVERNMENT passed the Medicines and Related Substances Control Act in 1997 to make medicines more accessible to the poor, 39 big pharmaceutical companies filed law suits in...
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The New Maternity Benefits Act Disregards Women in the Unorganised Sector -Neeta Lal
-TheWire.in The law will benefit only a minuscule percentage of women, while ignoring the majority who are working as contractual labour, farmers, self-employed women and housewives. New Delhi: The passage of the landmark Maternity Benefits Act 1961 by the Indian parliament, which mandates 26 weeks of paid leave for mothers as against the existing 12, has generated more heartburn than hurrahs due to its skewed nature. The law will also facilitate ‘work from...
More »CAG faults top private charitable hospitals for billing poor patients -Sumitra Deb Roy
-The Times of India Mumbai: In an audit of 11 leading private charitable hospitals in the city, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has found that seven were wrongly billing poor patients and charging hefty deposits during admission. Most hospitals reserved less than the stipulated number of beds for the poor, thereby depriving many of quality healthcare. The charity commissioner too has been pulled up for bad implementation of...
More »Don't probe corrupt officials without govt nod, says parliamentary panel -Aloke Tikku
-Hindustan Times New Delhi: Taking action against corrupt officials could soon get harder. A parliamentary panel has backed a move to bar anti-graft agencies from probing bribery allegations against public servants without the government’s approval. The government can take up to four months to decide if the police should register the bribery case, and there will be no penalty if it takes longer. However, its sanction would not be required if the official...
More »Retail inflation might not fall much in kharif season -Sanjeeb Mukherjee & Indivjal Dhasmana
-Business Standard Recent trends indicate any such moderation would not be across the board or without riders: Experts New Delhi: Contrary to some perceptions, consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation might not ease sharply after kharif crops arrive in the markets. On the other hand, wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation could see a rise, due to an increase in prices of commodities and metals. CPI inflation rose to 6.07 per cent in July, highest since...
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