-The Business Standard If the Cabinet clears the proposed policy, the Department of Pharmaceuticals would have to notify this before the SC?s next hearing on the matter on Nov 27 The Cabinet is likely to take up the proposed National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy tomorrow, government sources said. The policy is aimed at capping the prices of 348 essential medicines at the weighted average of all drugs in a particular segment, with...

-The Times of India The mystery of the missing detail in official files on why some coal block applicants won while others lost out is proving to be the biggest hurdle in the Centre's bid to ward off the threat of the Supreme Court scrapping all allocations. Aware that an unfavourable verdict on Coalgate will be a body blow to its bid to push-start the economy, the government is planning a careful...

-The Economic Times AHMEDABAD: Wheat output may remain stable this season due to remunerative prices and sufficient water availability. However, agriculture officials feel that the delay in announcing wheat MSP for rabi season might deter farmers. "We don't see a drop in wheat acreage this year and the production should clock similar to that of previous year's 93.90 million tonne. It will be too early to say that the area will increase...

-Rediff.com Today, Irom Sharmila, the Manipur civil rights activist, marks 12 years of her fast in protest against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in the state. She remains in judicial custody where she continues to be force-fed through her nose. Deepti Priya Mehrotra, author of Burning Bright: Irom Sharmila and the Struggle for Peace in Manipur, recalls her association with the Iron Lady of Manipur. I met her initially in October 2006...

-The Hindu The Right to Information Act was a marvel in a country that boasted unbreachable barriers between the ruler and the ruled. It was outside the imagination of the ordinary folk raised in a cloistered environment of fear and secrecy that they could actually call for and obtain records of decisions that critically impacted their lives. Yet in only seven years, the RTI law has not just penetrated the fortress...