-The Economic Times CHANDIGARH: Haryana government today transferred whistleblower in Robert Vadra-DLF land deal, Ashok Khemka, Haryana IAS officer to department of Archives within six months of his recent posting as managing director of Haryana Seeds Development Corporation. The latest transfer of Khemka, second in last few months and 44th in all, is seen as a bid to avoid further threat to image of the Congress government that has taken beating after...

-Reuters Global drugmakers, battered by recent intellectual property decisions in the country, are girding for a landmark court ruling on Monday with broad consequences for their ability to sell lucrative patented medicines in the country. Supreme Court is due to decide on April 1 whether or not Swiss giant Novartis AG's cancer treatment Glivec deserves a patent in the country. "Big Pharma is nervous because nothing has gone in their favour in the...

-The Times of India LUCKNOW: The Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh has made women from poor rural background direct beneficiaries ofLohiaGrameenAwasYojana and has allotted Rs520 crore for the scheme to provide shelter to homeless rural populace of the state, which would be launched today. War widows need not even confirm to the income criteria to be beneficiaries under the scheme. People who are not yet on the list of BPL survey...

Groups from across India gathered in Delhi recently to assess the Forest Rights Act’s journey since 2006. The law is often dubbed as ‘landmark’ because it ended the age-old illegality surrounding communities living in forest areas by entitling them to individual and community land title. It also went beyond the colonial paradigms of the forest bureaucracy to recognise community efforts at protecting and preserving forests. Numerous groups and individuals working...

-The Hindu In a small town in Karnataka, government-school students are working to ensure that their schools meet the infrastructure norms of the RTE Act. Can this model be replicated elsewhere in the country? Kishore Mahadevaiah, a Std VII student, is describing his ideal school. “The school should be very clean and neat. In every class, there should be teaching and learning materials and sports materials and qualified teachers. And there should...