-The Economic Times   The enacting of the Lokpal Bill has been deferred in the Rajya Sabha but that need not end the discussion on how focused the proposals are when it comes to tackling corruption. For instance, what exactly are the quotas in the Lokpal meant to do? If out of an eight-or-nine-member Lokpal, four or five should be from SCs, STs, OBCs, minorities and women, what is the message going...

-The Times of India India has foiled an attempt by a British pharmaceutical company to claim a patent on using ginger for the treatment of cold. While Indians have been gulping down 'adrak chai' for generations as a home remedy, Nicholas John Larkins, London, filed a patent application (GB2436063) titled "Pharmaceutical composition for the treatment of excess mucous production" on March 16, 2006 at the British patent office. The firm claimed a...

The discordant black-flag picket at the Golden Temple on New Year morning belied Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s clean-slate aspiration for 2012 but he is engaging in earnest with the challenges of what, in his own reckoning, will be another tough year. The Lokpal tangle controversially unresolved, attention is likely to remain riveted on politics, especially with high-stakes battles for Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and three other states under way. The Prime Minister,...

-The Tribune   Industry is the first to be blamed for pollution. However, in Punjab, which has only a modest industrial base, a major part of the total pollution comes from agriculture. The Green Revolution, with its concept of heavy use of fertilisers, pesticides, and other chemicals, has caused a serious imbalance in the environment. To raise levels of production, farmers often indulge in injudicious use of such inputs, the use of which...

-The Times of India   Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Friday that opening up of the multi-brand retail sector to foreign investment was still on the "mind of the government" and it would be pursued once consensus emerged among political parties and other stakeholders. Mukherjee blamed lack of consensus among political parties for the government's inability to implement the reform measure but said it did not reflect the lack of intention or...