-DNA The 97th constitutional amendment made RTI activists happy because they believed that it brought co-operative housing societies under the purview of the RTI Act. In February, the state passed its own ordinance implementing the amendment. State chief information commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad does not stand with the activists' consensus. He spoke with dna's Ashutosh Shukla about cooperative societies, pending second appeals and voluntary disclosure. Your opinion on housing societies coming under RTI? I don't think that...

-The Economic Times The recent patent rulings in India may get frequently challenged in international courts if the government yields to the European Union's demand of including matters related to intellectual property in the investors-state dispute mechanism in their proposed trade pact, health activist groups have warned. An investor-state dispute resolution mechanism typically allows foreign investors to sue countries for compensation if national laws, policies, court rulings of the country infringe upon...

-The Times of India KANNUR: The CITU will next month launch a nationwide campaign, demanding the working hours in private sector Companies be slashed to 35 hours from the present 48 hours a week. The campaign is to create more job opportunities. "One of our major discussions at the all-India conference of the CITU that concluded in Kannur on Monday was on the rising number of unemployed youth despite an increase in...

-The Hindu     Protesters see attempt by EU to undermine Indian judiciary in the EU-FTA pact People living with HIV, cancer patient groups and public health activists came out on the streets on Wednesday demanding that India reject the European Union's demands in the European Union-India Free Trade Agreement (EU-India FTA) negotiations. The protests coincide with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Germany to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel with the FTA on top of...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: India Inc has been conspicuously absent from a four-year-old United Nations-led global initiative against corruption, an unflattering distinction for Indian industry that could also buttress a widespread feeling that doing business in the country is difficult without bribing officials. Not one Indian company has yet joined a global panel of Companies steered by the world body to act against corruption in their businesses and pressurise governments...