-The Indian Express On Monday, the Bengali new year's day, viewers who tuned into Bengali music channel Tara Muzik witnessed a spectacle never seen before on Indian TV. Anchors of the channel and independent artistes called in to present Barsha Baran, a programme to celebrate the new year 1420, wept copiously on camera while announcing that the channel, facing an unprecedented "crisis of survival", was shutting down. Hundreds of viewers commiserated with...
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SC’s Novartis judgement renews focus on accessible medicine
The recent Supreme Court judgment dismissing pharma giant Novartis’ claim for patent protections in India for its award-winning and prohibitively priced anti-leukemia drug Glivec has renewed the focus on accessibly-priced drugs – in particular the failure of the Indian public healthcare system and health policy to ensure affordable drugs for all. Studies show that as much as 70% of health spending in India comes from out-of-pocket payments, with 50-80% of...
More »Government hints at broadcasting reform agenda- Shuchi Bansal
-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...
More »My mother deserves pardon if Dutt does: blasts convict's daughter -Mohan K Korappath
-The Hindustan Times Daughter of 1993 blasts convict Zaibunnisa Kazi, Shagufta, is set to pull out all stops to try and prevent her mother from going back to jail. In wake of the hue and cry over support for actor Sanjay Dutt from the crème de la crème of the society, Shagufta entered into the fray arguing that if Dutt could be pardoned, so could her mother, as both had been convicted...
More »Indian journalism at ground zero-V Gangadhar
-The Hindu Those opposing Justice Katju’s suggestion of minimum qualifications for journalists are out of touch with reality Some years ago, the journalism entrance test at a career development institute in Mumbai had this objective-type question: Kofi Annan is (a) a Nigerian footballer (b) lead singer of a Sierra Leone pop group (c) a Sri Lankan delicacy (d) Secretary-General of the United Nations. The 100-odd candidates who appeared for the test were...
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