Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar is yet to take a decision on the contentious report of the Public Accounts Committee on the 2G spectrum allocation scandal presented to her by PAC Chairman Murli Manohar Joshi on April 30. In a press release on Wednesday, the Speaker said she had reconstituted the PAC on May 1. Mr. Joshi is to continue as Chairman for the year starting May 1, 2011 as it...

Alarmed at the declining figures of female population in Maharashtra, as revealed by the provisional census of 2011, the state health department has launched a crackdown on clinics, which illegally perform sex determination tests. According to department officials, they will deploy 'Decoy Sting Operation Teams' at the district level. This team, which consists of khabris (informants), will track down clinics performing sex determination tests. Local health NGOs will also be...

Karnataka government will appoint a two-member expert committee to frame guidelines to regulate clinical drug trials and research projects in all government and private medical colleges and hospitals in the State. The trials and projects will remain suspended till the recommendations are made by the committee. "Until such time, all ongoing clinical drug trials and research projects have been temporarily suspended," Medical Education Minister S A Ramadass told reporters here today. He cited...

An Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on Food is scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss the proposed National Food Security Bill and take a view on the suggestions made by the Sonia Gandhi-headed National Advisory Council (NAC) and Rangarajan Panel. According to sources, the Food Ministry will place the Reports of both the NAC and the Prime Minister’s panel headed by PMEAC chairman C Rangarajan before the EGoM for guidance. The...

Joint drafting panel on Lokpal Bill holds second meeting; public consultations after agreement on basic principles In the second round of discussions in the joint drafting committee on the Lokpal Bill here on Monday, members of civil society invoked the United Nations Convention on Corruption to stress that the underlying principle of the anti-corruption law should be to have an independent body that covers the highest executive and the judiciary. The...