-The Economic Times Pharma companies sponsoring clinical trials in India would now need to compensate volunteers in cases of trial-related deaths or injuries. Firms and clinical research organisations failing to pay up, could face suspension of trials and even a permanent ban. The decision to make compensation mandatory in such cases comes four weeks after the Supreme Court chided the government for its sloppy regulation of clinical trials. A senior government official said...

-Kafila.org In a speech delivered at the Reuters memorial lecture in November 2012 at Oxford University discussing the Indian news industry, Prannoy Roy candidly said that ”Indian news is currently in a race to the bottom”. He further added that upon comparing the average TV viewership in India (1 hour) to that in the US (5 hours), one is led to the utterly dismal conclusion that this race is far from...

-The Indian Express Despite the tall claims of the UP government of providing pollution-free water at Sangam, Allahabad, devotees at Kumbh continue to take their holy dip in polluted water. The latest report of UP Pollution Control Board (UPPCB), the Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) at Sangam is around 5 mg/litre, much above the permissible limit of 3 mg/ltr. BOD is an indication of the organic quality of water and increases with...

-The Hindu Hearing of proposed 100-MW thermal power plant of KPR Industries postponed after stones thrown at dais Balabhadrapuram (East Godavari): The public hearing on the proposed 100 MW thermal power plant of KPR Industries (India) Limited on Wednesday between Dontamuru of Rangampeta mandal and Balabhadrapuram of Bikkavolu mandal in East Godavari district was disrupted by villagers and some ‘outsiders’. A total of 40 persons, including four policemen, were injured in lathi-charge and...

-PTI Another youth has been arrested in connection with the online abuses and threats to the all-girl rock band of Jammu and Kashmir. Irshad Ahmad Chara, resident of S.D. Colony, Batamaloo, was arrested late Wednesday night during a police raid to apprehend him. Tariq Khan, was apprehended from Bijbehara, a town in South Kashmir, and Rameez Shah was also arrested from Ganderbal in central Kashmir on Wednesday night, police sources said. Jammu and Kashmir...