Act makes it possible to seize and destroy even legitimately produced generic drugs exported from India to poor countries It was a triumphant moment for public health campaigners when members of the European Parliament voted against the Anti- Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) on July 4. ACTA is a plurilateral pact, designed to protect against counterfeiting of products, including medicines. ACTA, primarily drafted and secretly negotiated by the US, was signed on October...

-The Hindu State says Constitution does not allow government spending for religious bodies The Supreme Court has declined to stay, at this stage, the Gujarat High Court order directing the State government to pay compensation to more than 500 shrines damaged during the 2002 riots. Earlier, appearing for the Gujarat government before Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra, Additional Advocate-General Tushar Mehta and counsel Hemantika Wahi argued that under the Constitution, there could...

-The Economic Times A section of the Chhattisgarh government is coming around to the view that a judicial inquiry into the recent encounter with Maoists may be the best option to counter allegations that innocent tribals were killed.  The state government is already in touch with the Union home ministry in this regard, a senior official told ET. The official, who did not wish to be named, said a section within the...

Regulations covering public health should override personal Rights and the country cannot wait any more for a good public health law. The health care industry, including institutions of medical education, hospitals and pharmaceutical businesses, have grown into behemoths that can do considerable harm in the absence of independent and effective regulatory systems. While there are no success stories in the regulation of any kind of industry in India, I will focus...

Around two in five households in Kolkata don't have ownership or tenancy documents, while one in four live in the fear of being evicted without legal notice.  In Mumbai, 30% households don't have ownership or tenancy documents and one in five feel insecure against eviction, says the UN's Millennium Development Goals Report, 2012.  Released on Monday, the report says the most visible violation of housing Rights faced by the urban poor today...