-The Times of India Asking the government not to keep mercy petitions of death row convicts pending for a long time, Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir on Sunday said execution of death penalty should not be delayed. He also faulted the government for not informing Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's family members before he was hanged. "If a death penalty is to be awarded and it is there under the system,...

-The Hindu Well before the Supreme Court rejected Novartis' application for patent for Glivec (Gleevec in the U.S.), drawing attention to the dichotomy of generic and patented drugs, activists have been demanding access to expensive drugs used in the treatment of cancer, hepatitis C and serious HIV. Trastuzumab is one such, used in the treatment of HER2+ type of breast cancer, which affects about one in four patients with the disease. Rough...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: The urban Indian's diet, pickled with takeaways from fast-food joints and instant foods that are ready in a jiffy at the end of a long working day, could worsen the present epidemic of hypertension due to its high proportion of salt. In a city where every fourth adult is believed to have hypertension, experts said the focus should be on reducing salt intake in the daily...

-The Hindu   The absence of a comprehensive rehabilitation policy for surrendered militants has made life hellish for those who decided to give themselves up and join the mainstream Jammu & Kashmir's first "Surrender Policy" was floated by Governor Gen. (retd.) K.V. Krishna Rao's administration in 1995. It was almost identical to the policies introduced for militants involved in the North East and Naxalite insurgencies: Rs.1.5 lakh worth of fixed deposit receipts payable...

-The Indian Express Amritsar: Hours before it was due to open in theatres Friday, the Punjab government banned a controversial Punjabi film, Sadda Haq, which focuses on the era of militancy in the state, and attributed the decision to the need to maintain communal harmony. But the move has stoked a fresh controversy with the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, which is controlled by the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal and had helped the...