-Outlook About 30 per cent of people in India were below the poverty line in 2009-10 that was based on the monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) of Rs 673 for rural areas and Rs 860 for urban areas, Parliament was informed today. "As per the latest available information, the poverty line at all India level for 2009-10 is estimated as MPCE of Rs 673 for rural areas and Rs 860 for...

Introduced in the Lok Sabha in December 2011, the UPA government’s Food Security Bill is finally going to be discussed in the current (Budget) Session of Parliament. The proposed legislation is now slated to see many additional amendments from the government, following criticism from the States, NGOs and diverse stake-holders working on access to food and child health. Attempt here is to summarise in a Q & A format the...

-The Hindu India has registered higher infant and child mortality rates than Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Further the country’s position on the measure of the percentage of underweight and severely underweight children during the period 2006-10 was more than twice than that in the Sub-Saharan African region. This was revealed in the Comptroller and Auditor General of India’s performance audit of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme — Union Ministry of...

-The Hindu Bayer's plea dismissed by the Intellectual Property Appellate Board The Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) on Monday upheld the grant of compulsory licence (CL) to the Hyderabad-based Natco Pharma Limited, a generic drug maker, to produce and market Nexavar, a patented cancer drug of multinational pharma major Bayer Corporation. The order will pave the way for reduction in the prices of costly life saving drugs. Disposing an appeal filed by Bayer...

-The Times of India PUNE: In view of the increasing need for skilled manpower in the mental heath sector, the state health department has decided to train health workers at the village level and incorporate them in the mental health services. "At present, about 6,000 people with different mental illnesses can take treatment at four regional mental hospitals in the state. Even if the strength of health workers is increased, it would...