India's decision this month to produce Germany-based multinational Bayer's anti-cancer drug Nexavar, in the first use of "compulsory licensing" in South Asia, will save lives but also raises intricate questions. Under the compulsory licensing process, a government can under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules bypass a patent owner's rights after three years and order the manufacture and sale of life-saving medicines at much cheaper cost than by obtaining the medicine from...

At a time when economic wisdom is seen as lying in allowing unrestrained play of economic power and cutting social sector spending, here is a report emphasising the economic sense in addressing hunger, especially child malnutrition. It also brings out the positive impact of employment guarantee scheme, which has been a thrust area of the UPA government but has seen a cut in allocation in Budget proposals for 2012-13. The report...

The Planning Commission had released a report, yesterday indicating reduced poverty line to Rs 28.65 per capita daily consumption in cities and Rs 22.42 in rural areas, scaling down India’s poverty ratio from 37.2 percent to 29.8 percent in 2009-10. Firstpost did an interview with Abhijit Sen, Member, Planning Commission. Here are excerpts from the interview: When we say there is a 7.3 percentage points (from 37.2 percent in 2004-05 to 29.8...

The Centre on Friday informed the Supreme Court that appropriate steps would soon be taken to amend the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993 to eliminate manual scavenging. Additional Solicitor General Harin Raval told a Bench of Justices H.L. Dattu and C.K. Prasad that necessary amendments would be introduced in the monsoon session of Parliament. The ASG also assured the court that the government would...

Giving a thumbs up to the defence ministry’s proposal to raise a territorial army battalion consisting of local tribal youth in Maoist-affected areas, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked it not only to take it up on priority basis but also to raise three battalions instead of one. After being vetted and cleared by both the key ministries, the proposal is expected to come up in in the cabinet...