-Business Standard Bright sunshine, however, offsets damage Rains and thunderstorms accompanied by hailstorm in some places have flattened standing wheat, mustard and coriander crop in some parts of Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. However, the situation is not as grim as last year because the showers have been followed by bright sunshine. Agriculture scientists say the weather over the next few days will hold the key and if the hailstorm...

-The Indian Express Government privileges the private over the public, preferring trade to health In a dramatic development, US industry groups recently claimed the Indian government offered them a “private” assurance that compulsory licences will not be issued, save in emergencies and for non-commercial purposes. Needless to state, such an assurance flies in the face of the Patents Act and the public health safeguards enshrined in it. Illustratively, Section 84 mandates that...

-PTI The report noted 31% of multiple account holders (with a bank account in addition to PMJDY) are actively using alternate bank account. New Delhi: Duplication of accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is on the rise while 28 per cent of accounts are lying dormant, says a survey by financial inclusion consulting firm MicroSave. According to the survey, conducted in 42 districts spread across 17 states and one union...

-The Hindu   Karnataka secures third position while Gujarat stands fifth, according to survey   Poll-bound States Kerala and Tamil Nadu secured first and second ranking in public affairs index (PAI) in governance in States, while Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha are lagging on this front, a latest survey of think-tank Public Affairs Centre (PAC), Bengaluru, has revealed. Karnataka secured third position while Gujarat stood fifth. Karnataka secured top position among all States in the...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: International humanitarian agency Medecins Sans Frontieres has filed an application to block US pharmaceutical company Pfizer from obtaining a patent in India for a vaccine against pneumonia and allow Indian vaccine manufacturers to make low-cost versions. The patent opposition moved by MSF has claimed that Pfizer's patent application, which describes methods of conjugating 13 serotypes (strains) of the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae into a single carrier vaccine, does not...