-The Hindu If we are going to buy American, why not adopt the American way of giving local bodies the right to refuse entry to super stores in their area There is the United States of America and then there is the ‘idea’ of USA that exists in the minds of significant portions of the middle classes all across the globe. How this looks in real life varies slightly according to the...

-Mainstream Weekly Intense and motivated propaganda, powerful national and international diplomatic pressure, verging on pure and simple arms-twisting of the kind the Third World has been facing for decades by means of the active role of the econo-mic hit-men in the policy establishments, huge cash-back lobbying, both in India and abroad, blunt attempts to bamboozle the persons holding key positions in India’s policy establishment through a combination of hissing and kissing...

-The Hindu In an unprecedented move, the government, through the Department of Telecommunications and the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, has agreed to initiate dialogue on Internet censorship with mega Internet companies, social media giants such as Google and Facebook, members of civil society, technical community, media, ISPs and legal experts. The triggers for the discussion, which will be held on Wednesday, are the riots in Assam, Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh,...

-Outlook Anyone with internet access can get an education—from the best in their fields The Supreme Court last week allowed online counselling for admission to undergraduate courses in medical colleges. Under the scheme, students applying for all-India seats in medical colleges would be able to receive counselling in choosing their colleges online. While this is but a small development, for just a section of seats in medical colleges across India, coming...

Fighting cancer has just become less expensive for millions of Indian patients. More than 12 years after he electrified the pharma industry by taking on powerful global giants in his quest to supply cheap anti-AIDS drugs, Cipla promoter YK Hamied is back donning the role of a price warrior. This time, his attention is on anti-cancer drugs. On Thursday, Cipla cut prices of key cancer drugs by nearly 75%, an astounding,...