The recent Supreme Court judgment dismissing pharma giant Novartis’ claim for patent protections in India for its award-winning and prohibitively priced anti-leukemia drug Glivec has renewed the focus on accessibly-priced drugs &NDAsh; in particular the failure of the Indian public healthcare system and health policy to ensure affordable drugs for all. Studies show that as much as 70% of health spending in India comes from out-of-pocket payments, with 50-80% of...

The ongoing droughts and water crises in Maharashtra and Gujarat point to the multiple conflicts the beleaguered and scarce resource of water is likely to spark in the coming years. India is today the world’s largest consumer of groundwater, but it is clear that how we extract, harvest, distribute and manage our most precious resource cannot proceed along usual lines. The unsustainable over-extraction is heralding a fall in the water-table and...

-The Economic Times PATNA: Reserving 33% seats for women in Parliament and state legislatures may remain a dream for Congress president Sonia Gandhi but chief minister Nitish Kumar has not only done that in panchayat bodies of Bihar but is set to take the concept to other areas. Women's support for JD(U) had swelled in elections following the reservations, as the fair sex exhibited approval for the progressive legislation. Encouraged by 'lady...

-The Telegraph The director-general of the National Investigation Agency, Sharad C. Sinha, was today selected member of the National Human Rights Commission at a meeting attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, is understood to have given dissenting notes against two appointments to the NHRC, one being that of Sinha, which was not accepted. No decision has been taken on the other...

-The Hindustan Times A UN report has described India’s water pollution situation as a “time-bomb” while praising social activist Anna Hazare’s village Ralegan Siddhi for using the scarce commodity in a rationale manner. In a stinging remark on water administration in India, the report says India is able to treat just 10 % of its city sewage and industrial waste discharge, the most polluting source for rivers and water bodies. “Presently, only...