-The Hindu In 2014, an Indian pharmaceutical company was globally the first to receive approval to market a biosimilar, thereby affordable version, of the breast cancer drug Trastuzumab. Almost immediately, Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, innovator of the drug, filed a suit against the Indian Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to block its sale. The action firmly put their profits ahead of the lives of women with breast cancer. Roche effectively embroiled India’s...

-The Indian Express CBSE’s decision to make Class X board exam compulsory upturns a modest reform of school education Once upon a time, when India was a colony, the matriculation exam marked the end of “high” school education. It served as the gateway for higher education at a college. The Latin root of the verb ‘to matriculate’ means getting enlisted in a college. Not everybody could aspire for higher education, but even...

-Livemint.com While there have been some positives, including the reforms on political funding, the real test of the budget was the ability to manage spending to revive the economy This was the fourth budget of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. Coming at a time when the world around is full of uncertainties, more was expected from the budget than what has been delivered. The domestic uncertainty is certainly the outcome of demonetisation....

-The Hindu Only science can ensure commercial viability and protection of indigenous breeds. With the Tamil Nadu Governor clearing an ordinance on jallikattu, the question is whether the sport will help preserve indigenous breeds of cattle. The proponents of jallikattu say that first, if the sport is banned, owners of indigenous bulls may no longer find it worth preserving the indigenous variants. Second, they say it is the ‘untamed’ bull that is...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: A survey of children's learning levels has found that Class V and Class VIII students performed as poorly in arithmetic in 2016 as they did in 2014 but Class III kids did marginally better.   The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) released today also found little change in the enrolment figures in private schools. About 30.5 per cent children of the 6-14 age group were enrolled in private...