-Reuters   Cheap generic drugs were meant to change the life of Nandakhu Nissar, whose mouth is swollen by a cancerous tumour. But the cashless and hungry 55-year-old sleeps on a pavement staring up at the windows of Mumbai's biggest cancer hospital.  "What is a generic drug?" shrugs Nissar, who has travelled over 1,500 kms (900 miles) from his home in the hope of treatment. "I have borrowed money from friends and relatives...

Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa, who had recommended the suspension of operations at the Koodankulam nuclear power plant until people’s concerns had been allayed, said on Monday that work on the plant should resume immediately. The state cabinet based its decision on a report submitted last month by an expert committee that gave the project the all-clear, she said. “As per the state cabinet consensus, I (order) that the process for...

Kudankulam plant comes under 3-tier security cover; activists call for indefinite fast Police moved against those protesting the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) on Monday, arresting 11 activists, including two members of the anti-KKNPP struggle committee. This is the first time the police cracked the whip on protesters in the last seven and half months. The nuclear power plant came under a three-tier security cover soon after the Cabinet cleared the decks...

-PTI Seeking to end the impasse over the Kudankulam nuclear plant issue, the Jayalalilthaa government in Tamil Nadu on Monday gave the go ahead to the controversial project and announced a Rs 500 crore special development package for the area where it is located. "In accordance with (today's) cabinet decision, immediate steps will be taken (to facilitate commissioning) of the plant," chief minister Jayalalithaa said in a statement, breaking her silence over...

-IANS   Calling for effective measures to improve the efficiency of social sector programmes, the Economic Survey for 2011-12 has suggested extending the government's ambitious rural jobs scheme to urban areas, strengthening panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) and skill improvement for enhanced employability. The survey, which was presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in parliament Thursday, said that programmes like Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) have been instrumental in creating employment...