The Supreme Court has handed down an extraordinary decision with some extraordinary arguments directing the central government to execute the “river interlinking project”. How could the Court which says “it can hardly take unto itself tasks of making of a policy decision or planning for the country on the need for acquisition and construction of river linking channels” then go on to actually take the very same policy decision and...

-The Economic Times Team Anna found itself an 'untouchable' when politicians across the aisle attacked it in Parliament for calling parliamentarians thieves and dacoits. It was a rare moment of unanimity in the Lok Sabha on Monday as outraged members condemned Team Anna saying it had crossed all LIMits of decorum by using such unparliamentary words during its day-long fast at Jantar Mantar on Sunday.  However, Arvind Kejriwal, who was in the...

-Economic and Political Weekly The compulsory licence for Nexavar is only the beginning of a new battle over drug prices. The grant of a compulsory licence (CL) to Natco Pharma, a relatively small Indian pharmaceutical company, to manufacture and sell the cancer drug sorafenib (Nexavar) has been rightly hailed as a major step forward for public health and the wider availability of life saving medicines.   The German pharmaceutical company Bayer holds the patent...

A classified US report listed India’s three major river basins — Indus, Ganga and Brahmaputra —among the world top 10 water conflict zones in ten years from now. The report based on National Intelligence Estimate on water security said the chances of water issues causing war in next 10 years were minimal but they could disrupt national and global food market and cause tension between states. “Beyond 2022, use of water as...

The proposed amendments to marriage laws lack the detail to guarantee women their full due   The cabinet’s decision to clear a bill providing for amendment to marriage laws has evoked mixed reactions within women’s organisations. While the introduction of the notion of matrimonial property within Indian family laws is a welcome move, the manner in which it is being done seems hasty and without due consideration of its implementability. There is...