India's wonder plants with medicinal properties will now come with a special "good quality tag" with the government putting in place a voluntary certification scheme for medicinal plant produce based on good agricultural practices and good field collection practices. This, the government said, will enhance confidence in the quality of India's medicinal plant produce and make available good quality raw material to the ayurvedic and herbal drugs industry. Under the scheme, launched...

The Congress-led UPA is on bended knee trying to placate Swami Ramdev in the run-up to his fast but it’s the Sangh Parivar, specifically the RSS, that could hold the cards. On May 27, eight days before the scheduled start of the fast on June 4, a written circular, signed by RSS general secretary Bhaiyyaji Joshi, went out to provincial organisers. The note specifically asked them to instruct swayamsevaks to support...

The Orissa government on Friday came down heavily on anti- Posco protesters by arresting 18 villagers, including a prominent anti-Posco leader, and carried on with its land acquisition drive for the South Korean steel major's 12 million tonnes steel plant near Paradip. The government officials also seized a betel vine belonging to Basudev Behera, one of the leaders of the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS). The police detained Behera in...

-The United Nations   The global response to AIDS has achieved significant results since the first case was reported 30 years ago, with a record number of people having access to treatment and rates of new HIV infections falling by nearly 25 per cent, the United Nations says in a new report. “AIDS at 30: Nations at the crossroads,” released today by the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), comes ahead of...

Having had to face a series of farmers' protest and flak from Opposition parties over the acquisition of land for development and expressway projects in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Mayawati has announced that all future land transactions will be clinched directly between the farmers and the private developers by adopting a “consensual approach.” “The role of the government now would be that of a facilitator only, limited to issuing a notification...