-The Hindu Expressing concern over the reported comments of the Chief Justice of India S.H. Kapadia that Right to Information queries were impeding the working of Judges, the Chief Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi had written to the CJI to lend his powerful voice to increasing the effectiveness and reach of RTI and not support those who seek to curb it. In a recent letter addressed to Mr. Justice Kapadia, the CIC drew...

Industry reacts with caution to the grant of a compulsory licence to Natco, but cancer patients welcome it and hope for many more. THE first compulsory licence (CL) issued by the Indian patent office, to the local drug manufacturer Natco Pharma Ltd to sell the generic version of Bayer AG's anti-cancer drug Nexavar, has led to varied reactions. The landmark decision has also raised concerns about the outcome of cases...

Confusion sparked by the setting up of a new committee for drug approvals has led to a slide in the number of new medicines getting cleared even as millions of Indians struggle with diabetes and heart failures remain a major killer. The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has shed its role as the sole approver of new drugs in the country after a new committee, set up by the health...

At a recent meeting in Kolkata, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee threw up his hands for not being able to present a bold Budget because of coalition politics. Indeed, Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress, a coalition partner, has been a thorn in the side of the UPA. She enjoys a veto on nearly everything that the government wishes to do. If such are the compulsions of coalition politics, should we not...

Court settles the class issue, but the real challenges of RTE have to be met The debate over the Right to Education is beginning to display characteristic symptoms of Indian debates. Elites are inventing specious arguments to condone the economic apartheid in the current system. But India’s self-appointed anti-elites are often even more elitist. They are more fixated on taking down elites a peg or two rather than intelligently fixing real...