-The Indian Express Prime Minister Narendra Modi's US visit is likely to throw up highly contentious intellectual property rights issues. Indeed, for the last several years, US drug majors and their European counterparts have lobbied hard to demonise the Indian patent regime. But the government must continue to defend the law and stand its ground. Particularly since our own industrial moguls have caved in and are less vocal about their opposition...

-The Telegraph Kolkata: The Bengal government's decision to select insurance companies quoting the lowest premiums for a centrally funded health care scheme has hit private hospitals that are refusing patients citing non-payment of claims by the firms. Senior officials of the health department said thousands of poor patients registered under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana were being refused admission by hospitals and nursing homes across the state every month. The registered families...

-The Times of India A new self regulatory code of conduct for doctors and hospitals, in the process of being formulated, could hold investors and members on the boards of medical establishments responsible for unethical practices in the establishment such as giving cuts to doctors and diagnostic facilities or taking bribes from pharmaceutical companies. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) and the Association of Hospital Providers of India (AHPI) have constituted a joint...

-The Hindu Across India, there were 518 victims from January 2010 to July 2014 Kolkata: Geeta Gayen (40), mother of three children, was attacked with acid on January 13 for spurning the advances of another man at Swarupnagar in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district. After struggling for life with severe burns on her face, hands, and chest, she died on March 7. "She died for no fault of hers. She used earn...

-The Hindu Kolkata: After the Calcutta High Court struck down the State Government's Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Act, 2011, the case is now in the Supreme Court. After her meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, noted social activist Medha Patkar said on Friday that Tata Motors' authorities should be more liberal in the issue of returning the land of farmers in Singur. The meeting took place at the State secretariat, Nabanna. After...