-PTI   AGARTALA: Tripura has ranked first in implementing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in 2012-13 by providing 86.27 days of work on an average to a rural household, a state minister claimed here today. "When the national average is 39, the state could provide 86.27 days of work to the job card holders. Tripura secured first position in implementation of the Act," State Rural Development Minister Jitendra Chowdhurytold reporters. MGNREGA...

-The Indian Express She was gangraped by 16 boys, nine of them juveniles. She was beaten, cut up and her genitals mutilated. She made it to hospital, but was sent home with first-aid. When she survived to fight, she ran into an indifferent administration and influential accused. Schools denied her admission, and others mocked and threatened her. Chances are you haven't heard this 16-year-old's story. Three days after the brutal attack on...

-The Telegraph Siliguri, April 7: If the panchayat system is dissolved and not replaced by newly elected bodies on time, at least three central schemes would come to a halt in the state, Jairam Ramesh said today. According to the Union rural development minister the national job scheme for villagers, which entails 100-days work for at least one member of a BPL family, would be hit the most. The other two schemes...

-The Times of India Big pharma may be crying hoarse over India's "weak'' intellectual property environment, but over the past five years or so, they have introduced only a handful of their patented blockbusters in the country. That's not all. The contribution of patented drugs in the Rs 72,000-crore pharma retail market is not even 1%, indicating that multinationals have been traditionally slow and have a poor track record in introducing...

-The Hindu   Entering third polio-free year, India must destroy all wild poliovirus lab samples by December Having successfully completed two polio-free years, India is preparing to receive the crucial polio eradication certificate from the World Health Organisation (WHO). The certificate is issued on completion of incident-free three years. This primarily involves the destruction or safe storage of all laboratory sources of wild poliovirus. The storage should be in laboratories that meet international standards...