-PTI The Supreme Court on Monday paved the way for the Centre to enforce rules on advertisement of tobacco products at their sale outlets that prohibits display of ads larger than 60 cm x 45 cm at shops. The court also slammed the central government for "conniving" with the tobacco lobby when people are daily dying of cancer. A Bench headed by Justice G S Singhvi quashed the interim order of the Bombay...

-The Economic Times Over a year ago, I had written a piece, Quo Vadis, Indian Pharma? (ET, May 11, 2012), in this column. Some key issues were highlighted in the article. Perhaps it is time to revisit the subject and bring out some current issues. Price control: Hurray, the department of pharmaceuticals has come out with a new non-intrusive price control methodology, moving from the cost-based model to the average market price...

-The Hindu Boards are understaffed, have little time for meetings, inspection or regulation, says study Mumbai: Environmental protection seems to be in shaky hands with political appointees nominated to head state pollution control boards (SPCB) in some places. In one case, the educational qualification of the chairperson was tenth standard. In Karnataka, for instance, the chairperson of the SPCB is Vaman Acharya, a senior BJP leader. In Himachal Pradesh, it is Kuldip Singh...

-IANS LUCKNOW: The death toll in the flood fury in Uttar Pradesh climbed up to 152 on Monday as most rivers continued to flow over the danger mark and heavy rains added to people's woes. Over five lakh people have been displaced. However, the government is yet help villagers who have been deprived of their livelihood due to waters claiming their lands. Ten rivers in the state - Sharda, Ghaghra, Ramganga, Ganga, Yamuna,...

Adding to the debate over celebrity economists blaming India’s malnutrition and stunting vis-à-vis Sub Saharan Africa on genetic differences, Dean Spears, a public health expert and a visiting fellow at Delhi School of Economics, offers evidence connecting our poor sanitation and open defecation with high morbidity and malnutrition. (see both links below). In an evidence-based paper titled Policy Lessons from Implementing India’s Total Sanitation Campaign (2012), based on the review...