-The Telegraph New Delhi: PubLIC health activists have asked the Union health ministry to reject a demand from an association of Indian doctors to exempt hospitals and clinics with accreditation from proposed rules to regulate the costs of services charged to patients. The Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA, or People's Health Movement) has opposed a demand from the Indian Medical Association to the health ministry seeking exemption for accredited hospitals from the Clinical...

-The Indian Express Issues notice to manufacturer too, seeks replies in 15 days The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued a showcause notice to Patanjali Ayurved, demanding an explanation on the sale of the atta noodles brand — launched by yoga guru Ramdev — without the food regulator’s approval. Another showcause notice has been issued to Aakash Yog, the manufacturer of the instant noodles, seeking its response as...

-The Tribune To ensure stable prices of pulses and attractive returns for producers, poLICies of domestic prices and tariffs should blend. Import duties must be calibrated with demand. As the Indian economy grows at a rate of 7 per cent plus, assuming low growth as an aberration, the food basket will diversify. Within grains, the movement will be to pulses as shown by the  expert group on pulse production. The yield and...

-The Financial Express Come January, Food Corporation of India (FCI), under a severe financial crunch, may be forced to trim its procurement operations. Come January, Food Corporation of India (FCI), under a severe financial crunch, may be forced to trim its procurement operations. Unless the finance ministry releases a good part of the unpaid subsidy of Rs 58,000 crore or let Life Insurance Corporation raise Rs 40,000 crore to support FCI soon,...

-DNA The failure of Bt Cotton to ward off pests has pushed farmers to penury The whitefly attack that has devastated the cotton crop in parts of Punjab and Haryana and caused heavy losses to farmers was a disaster that was waiting to happen. Estimates say that some 8 lakh hectare of standing cotton has been destroyed causing damage worth crores of rupees, which has hit farmers hard. This disaster was waiting...