-NDTV Lawmakers have to quit if they are convicted of a crime and can't stay on regardless of appeals to higher courts, the Supreme Court today said, in a big leap towards cleaning up Indian politics. The top court struck down a provision in the Representation of the People's Act (RPA) that protects convicted MPs and MLAs from disqualification if they appeal to a higher court. "The disqualification takes place from the date...

-PTI VADODARA: A Gujarat-based NGO has alleged that the Biotechnology Regulatory Authority of India (BRAI) Bill introduced in the Parliament aims at "criminalising" opposition to the genetically modified (GM) food. Suman Sahai, who leads the 'Gene Campaign', an organisation, said that according to this "draconian bill", those creating hurdles in the campaign against the GM food, can get three months of imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5 lakh. He was speaking at...

-The Hindu Much like the space it aims to protect, India's cyber security policy, launched this week, is characterised by a striking duality of purpose. On the one hand, it seeks to guard, and thus strengthen, the country's strategic assets and online intelligence infrastructure. On the other, it hopes to secure the transactions of citizens, companies and public services on the web. The latter, more enabling goal is intended to...

-The Telegraph The proliferation and sales of anti-diabetes combination pills that contain two drugs to control blood sugar has stirred concerns in medical circles that a large proportion of diabetes patients in India are not receiving ideal treatment. A study by Indian and British researchers has shown that such two-drug combo pills accounted for more than half of the sales of all oral anti-diabetes medications in India last year, although doctors say...

-The Business Standard Food insecurity and hunger are rooted in bad policies, faulty design, poor governance and a lack of political will According to the latest Global Hunger Report, India continues to be in the category of those nations where hunger is "alarming". What is worse, despite high growth, the hunger index in India between 1996 and 2011 has gone up from 22.9 to 23.7. National Sample Survey Organisation data show that...