-IPS News SUNDARBANS: November is the cruelest month for landless families in the Indian Sundarbans, the largest single block of tidal mangrove forest in the world lying primarily in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. There is little agricultural wage-work to be found, and the village moneylender's loan remains unpaid, its interest mounting. The paddy harvest is a month away, pushing rice prices to an annual high. For those like Namita Bera,...

In the midst of national debates over the need for labour laws reforms and the efficacy of MG-NREGA in checking distress migration, a new report brings spotlight on the miserable living and working conditions of unorganized migrant workers from Rajasthan. Titled Their Own Country: A Profile of Labor Migration from Rajasthan, the report prepared jointly by Aajeevika Bureau and UNESCO informs us that 70% of seasonal migrant workers from Rajasthan...

-The Hindu The Working Group on Intellectual Property can serve as a platform where real time solutions to meet India's need for low-cost medicines can be addressed After what seemed like a historic trip for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which held out the promise of reshaping India-U.S. relations positively, the initiation of the Out-of-Cycle Review (OCR) by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has brought a sobering reality check as to what...

-Down to Earth Pharma company's strategy of different prices for different countries to affect quality treatment of 185 million people infected with Hepatitis C worldwide Health activists and agencies on Tuesday criticised leading pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS)'s commercial strategy to sell new Hepatitis C medicine Daclatasvir, stating it would exclude a large number of patients who cannot afford expensive treatment. BMS had announced that it would create a tiered pricing strategy for...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In a country where obesity and diabetes, on account of high intake of fatty food, is turning into an epidemic, a unique health crisis is faced by few others. Top nutritionists working at AIIMS say the fat intake among rural population continues to be significantly lower than the Recommendatory Dietary Allowance (RDA) leading to serious health issues in them. In last 20-30 years, scientists claim, the...