-PTI India stopped short of co-sponsoring a first-of-its-kind United Nations resolution on eliminating "early marriage" due to a lack of greater legal clarity, the External Affairs Ministry said in a reply to an RTI application. The Resolution on 'Strengthening efforts to prevent and eliminate child, early and forced marriage: Challenges, achievements, best practices and implementation gaps', was adopted by consensus at the 24th Session of the Human Rights Council held between September...

-The Hindu     * Thinkfest sponsored by ‘dubious corporates’: Goan civil society * In 2011, Tehelka was criticised for killing a story on Goa’s mining lobby Mumbai: “Now you are in Goa; drink as much as you want,” Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal was reported to have said in 2011 at the Goa ‘Thinkfest’ – an event the magazine marketed as India’s premier intellectual event. “Eat and sleep well with anyone you think of, but...

-Live Mint Apex court expresses concerns about drug trials being permitted on humans without comprehensive rules to regulate the approval process New Delhi: The apex court on Monday directed the health ministry to justify its approval for 162 global clinical trials in India, increasing the uncertainty faced by the nation's $500 million clinical research industry. The Supreme Court expressed its concerns about drug trials being permitted on humans without comprehensive rules to...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday forced the Centre to stop clinical trials of 162 new drugs or chemical entities which had been cleared by the expert committee for testing on human beings in India. A bench of Justices R M Lodha and Shiva Kirti Singh was about to pass an order restraining the Centre from going ahead with these clinical trials when additional solicitor general Sidharth...

-The Economic Times The state-run Rubber Board is turning to the rural employment guarantee programme to increase India's natural rubber output from the present 9 million tonne a year. With rising global demand for rubber, the board is keen to extend the area under cultivation. It has identified 400,000 hectare in the North East, 100,000 hectare in Odisha and 50,000 hectare each in Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh as areas with potential...