-The Times of India MUMBAI: The urban Indian's diet, pickled with takeaways from fast-food joints and instant foods that are ready in a jiffy at the end of a long working day, could worsen the present epidemic of hypertension due to its high proportion of salt. In a city where every fourth adult is believed to have hypertension, experts said the focus should be on reducing salt intake in the daily...

-The Economic Times MUMBAI: India's strong stance on minor drug innovations could reverberate in national parliaments and courthouses of the developed world as Australia, the EU and Canada get ready to discuss and ban patent protection for frivolous improvements. A top Australian government body on Wednesday asked for changes in its patent laws relating to drugs saying that the indiscriminate grant of patents to incremental innovations should be checked and that...

-The Hindu Considering the knowledge of English as a mark of social advancement and that of the vernacular as backwardness disenfranchises significant sections of society In a village in Ghazipur district that borders Varanasi, there is a young man who teaches English and "personality development" to the sons and daughters of local shopkeepers, farmers and truck drivers. The classes are held from 6 to 8 in the morning and again in the...

-The Economic Times Foreign pharma companies could be forced to overhaul their strategy for the Indian market by striking more local deals and cutting sky-high drug prices after the Supreme Court slammed the door on Swiss giant Novartis' attempts to gain a patent for its blood cancer-busting drug Glivec. But the ruling, welcomed by activists campaigning for affordable drugs and local generic companies, threatened to reinforce a narrative that India...

-The Hindu   "The court has recognised the right of patients to access affordable medicines over profits for big pharma companies" It was celebration time for health activists and civil society groups after the Supreme Court delivered its judgment dismissing Swiss multinational company Novartis' appeal for patent for its anti-cancer medicine imatinib mesylate or Gleevec. "We are happy that the apex court has recognised the right of patients to access affordable medicines over profits...