-The Economic Times It's not just the drug regulator, where a parliamentary panel has alleged corruption, failing in its job. Drug regulation across entities that dot this broad landscape is in poor health and ineffective. In May, when a Parliamentary panel, during a routine examination of healthcare regulatory bodies, alleged corruption in the approval of new drugs, it was merely pointing out one symptom. Such symptoms pervade the entire drug regulation landscape,...

-The Telegraph Acquiring land for special economic zones may become tougher. The rural development ministry has redrafted the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Bill with a provision that says the proposed law would apply to land acquisition under the Special Economic Zone Act, 2005. This means if the redrafted bill is passed, landlosers will have to be consulted and their consent taken before their land can be acquired under the SEZ Act,...

-The Hindu   The ever-expanding urban regions have lured workers with a promise of better life. But for those in the unorganised sector, particularly women, city life comes laden with a plethora of difficulties. The photograph of the woman worker raises several questions on working conditions and social security. A study commissioned by the National Commission for Woman on the construction industry highlights the monstrous amount of work a woman worker does. “In...

-The Times of India The attack on three environment and RTI activists across the country in less than two weeks has brought to the fore how environmentalism is a dirty and sometimes violent game in the hinterland unlike the soft, candle-lighting tiger-loving green activism in big cities.  Akhil Gogoi in Assam, Bharat Jhunjhunwala in Uttarakhand and Ramesh Agrawal in Chhattisgarh - green activists who used RTI to their advantage - were attacked...

-The Telegraph The Centre has brought back quarterly monitoring of the performances of all ministries and projects after having let the practice lapse into half-yearly reviews about five years ago. Projects and ministries will be set targets and these will be reviewed at three levels — by the PMO, Planning Commission and administrative ministries — plan panel deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said today. “We have set quarterly targets for all the ministries...