-The Indian Express This attempt to influence the CBI should cost Ashwani Kumar his job, no matter how the court weighs in After the Supreme Court pressed the CBI, the agency has admitted that its confidential report on coal block allotment had been seen by Union Law Minister Ashwani Kumar in the draft stage. This comes as confirmation of a serious breach of procedure, one that should compel the UPA to take...

-The Hindu Carbon credit system paying rich dividends to farmers too Chennai: In a silent afforestation campaign, a private company has successfully raised more than a million trees on private lands in five districts in the State and recorded a survival rate of 90 per cent. Giving details to The Hindu about the successful planting of SAPlings and raising them to trees, A. Joseph Rexon, Director, TIST Tree Planting India programme, said it...

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...

-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 Business Standard Interview with Founder chairman of Cancer Patients Aid Association Though the legal battle over Glivec's patentability may be over for now, Y K SAPru, the man spearheading the fight against Swiss multinational Novartis, isn't resting. SAPru, founder chairman of Cancer Patients Aid Association, or CPAA (which moved the Supreme Court to keep the prices of the cancer drug low), tells Sushmi Dey what the judgment means to cancer patients....