-Frontline   The Supreme Court's ruling against Novartis' patent claim for the cancer drug Glivec paves the way for generic drug companies to keep crucial, life-saving drugs affordable to the common people. By V. VENKATESAN IN their 112-page judgment delivered on April 1, Justice Aftab Alam and Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai of the Supreme Court began with a simple proposition: in order to understand what the law really is, it is essential to...

-The Guardian Land rights not just issue for developing world as report shows public subsidies help a few firms 'grab' vast tracts of EU land Vast tracts of land in Europe are being "grabbed" by large companies, speculators, wealthy foreign buyers and pension funds in a similar way to in developing countries, according to a major new report. Chinese corporations, Middle Eastern sovereign wealth and hedge funds, as well as Russian oligarchs and...

-The Times of India In a significant move towards transparency, the government on Tuesday said all public authorities should proactively disclose information related to public private partnerships (PPP) projects on their websites. Though the disclosure will be voluntary, this marks a shift from the Centre's stand for the last two years when it stonewalled Central Information Commission (CIC)'s recommendation seeking disclosure of PPP projects and will herald greater transparency. Guidelines issued by the...

-The Times of India AHMEDABAD: Narendra Modi might be wanting to encash 'brand Gujarat' in 2014, but the state he rules still prohibits information under the RTI, which can check corruption to a great extent. In 2011-12, the Gujarat Information Commissioner received 5,224 complaints and appeals, of which 2,699 were disposed off - the disposal rate was 51.66 per cent. Of the 5,224 applications, 70 per cent were appeals. The report tabled in...

-The Hindu   The Supreme Court's reasoning in the Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar case reveals an unfortunate determination to sanction judicial execution because it involved a terrorist offence. If there is one principle that emerges from the judgment of Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice S.J. Mukhopadhaya, it is that prolonged delay in disposal of a mercy petition, until now considered a possible constitutional limitation on carrying out an execution, will not be...