The recent Supreme Court judgment dismissing pharma giant Novartis’ claim for patent protections in India for its award-winning and prohibitively priced anti-leukemia drug Glivec has renewed the focus on accessibly-priced drugs – in particular the failure of the Indian public healthcare system and health policy to ensure affordable drugs for all. Studies show that as much as 70% of health spending in India comes from out-of-pocket payments, with 50-80% of...
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Poll panel moves court to reject panchayat schedule
-PTI Kolkata: The Election Commission in West Bengal today moved the Calcutta Hight Court seeking rejection of the government notification on poll schedule as the state government decided to contest it. The State Election Commission in its petition claimed that Section 42 of the West Bengal Panchayat Election Act, which states that the state government is empowered to notify election in consultation with the commission, is unconstitutional. The commission also prayed that it...
More »Deadline jolt to urban plans-Shobhana K
-The Telegraph The Centre has threatened states that it would stop funding and withdraw the amount already given along with interest if projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) are not finished on time. Sources in the Bengal government said the Centre had allotted Rs 1,700 crore for 69 projects under JNNURM, of which Rs 158 crore has been released so far. The sources in the state government and in...
More »Non-Congress states opposes food security bill-Rituraj Tiwari
-The Economic Times The Centre may find it difficult to build political consensus on the National Food Security Bill as several non-Congress-ruled states have expressed their opposition to the scheme. Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have already expressed their dissent while Chhattisgarh has rolled out its own food security scheme. With more than 40% of the country's population residing in these five states, the Bill may not have the desired...
More »Bengal's starvation village back in focus -Sujay Khanra
-The Times of India MIDNAPORE: Three days after TOI reported on the plight of Amlashole villager Malati Shabar, the Mamata Banerjee government sent officials to the poverty-stricken village with food. Malati is the daughter of Somay Shabar, who had died of starvation along with her sister Sombari in 2004. TOI had reported on Saturday that Malati was also in dire straits and fighting hunger pangs. The government on Tuesday ordered an inquiry into...
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