-The Telegraph The government today said there was no ban on issuing fresh cooking gas connections but there was a three-week break, pending elimination of duplicate connections and update of software to take into account the six-a-year subsidy cap. State-owned oil firms are carrying out a nationwide exercise to eliminate multiple connections at the same address. Only one LPG connection is allowed at one address while the rest are being disconnected. “When a...

-The Times of India India will, for the first time, put a cap on the maximum price at which essential drugs, like some commonly used anti-AIDS and anti-cancer drugs, besides a horde of painkillers, anti-TB drugs, sedatives, lipid lowering agents and steroids, can be sold in the country. In a landmark decision, a group of ministers (GoM) headed by agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Thursday cleared the proposal to bring all 348...

-The Telegraph A panel of Union ministers today finalised a market-based drug pricing policy that public health experts say cold-shoulders concerns expressed by the health ministry and threatens to legitimise high prices for medicines. The policy finalised by the group of ministers (GoM), led by Sharad Pawar, will apply to 348 essential drugs to cover virtually all common ailments — from painkillers and antibiotics to asthma medications and drugs against high blood...

-The Hindustan Times The UPA government, staging a comeback through economic reforms after months of being on the back foot, got another boost after the Supreme Court said that auction was not the only method allowed in allocating natural resources. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government has been rocked by criticism that it handed out telecom spectrum and coal fields at an alleged loss of Rs. 3.6 lakh crore to private players instead of...

-PTI Economic prosperity is fuelling food inflation in the country, Chief Economic Adviser Raghuram Rajan today said while making a case for increasing productivity to fight price rise. In his first media interaction after assuming charge, Rajan justified the diesel price hike saying there is a need to link domestic fuel prices with international rates to curb fiscal deficit. "One of the concerns of the last few years has been food inflation, which...