-The Hindustan Times Cancer drugs will cost almost 25% less if the regulator implements a new formula that calls for a price cap. The price regulator National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is considering a pricing mechanism similar to the one for insulin products - which has brought down prices by up to 40% - for 33 cancer drugs, most of them generics. Basically, the lowest price from the list of drugs in a...

-Outlook India has long been the sleeping giant of global agriculture. But its misguided policies while boosting short-term output, yet may transform India into a food importer After decades on the sidelines of international agricultural trade, India was poised last year to become a major food supplier, overtaking traditional exporters of food grain and meat. This could prove to be flash in the pan. The sudden rise and fall of India...

-The Hindu The Supreme Court has denied Novartis a patent for its anti-cancer drug Gleevec. This leaves the door open for Indian pharmaceutical companies to produce their own versions of the drug. Since these are sold at roughly one tenth of the patented brand price, for thousands of cancer patients it means the difference between medicine and no medicine at all. It is not just cancer patients that will benefit, but...

-Live Mint I&B minister raises prospect of independent broadcasting authority, says govt may be forced to set up ratings system Information and broadcasting (I&B) minister Manish Tewari on Friday raised the prospect of an independent broadcasting authority and said the government may be forced to set up a ratings system unless the industry took steps to put in place a credible method of ranking television programmes, in a series of statements that...

-The Hindu   The absence of a comprehensive rehabilitation policy for surrendered militants has made life hellish for those who decided to give themselves up and join the mainstream Jammu & Kashmir's first "Surrender Policy" was floated by Governor Gen. (retd.) K.V. Krishna Rao's administration in 1995. It was almost identical to the policies introduced for militants involved in the North East and Naxalite insurgencies: Rs.1.5 lakh worth of fixed deposit receipts payable...