Indians are among the world's most depressed. According to a World Health Organization-sponsored study, while around 9% of people in India reported having an extended period of depression within their lifetime, nearly 36% suffered from what is called Major Depressive Episode (MDE). MDE is characterized by sadness, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy and poor concentration, besides feeling depressed. Lowest prevalence...

Developing countries will now have to battle IP issues related to new agricultural technologies at WIPO instead of WTO The World Intellectual Property Organization has announced clearly that it intends to play a role—and considering the clout WIPO enjoys it implies a significant part—in promoting intellectual property (IP) in agriculture to enhance productivity. The UN body stepped into this touchy arena with a seminar at its Geneva headquarters that has gone...

It was the end of a long, tiring and humid day. Sitting near the bamboo gate of his 'precious' betel vineyard, 70-year-old Narayan Mandal said despondently, "I don't want to migrate, once again." Mandal, a resident of Gobindpur village in Orissa's Jagatsinghpur district, is one of the many opposing the state government's ambitious $12 billion Posco steel project. For the last six years, three gram panchayats - Dhinkia, Nuagaon and Gada...

How much water is to be allocated by a State for a particular region is not a matter of judicial review, the Supreme Court said on Monday. Dismissing a plea for a direction for allocation of adequate water in Kachchh district in Gujarat, a Bench of Justices Markandey Katju and C.K. Prasad said: “The prayer is not one which can be a matter of judicial review. It is for the executive...

A study on the Public Distribution System by a team led by National Advisory Council member and economist Jean Dreze found only 18 per cent of respondents in a survey, of 1,227 below-poverty line households over 106 villages in nine states, wanted cash in place of food under the system. The demand for cash transfers was highest in Bihar at 54 per cent, followed by 34 per cent in Uttar Pradesh...