-The Times of India NEW DELHI: There was one aspect of the Lokpal bill Rahul Gandhi felt strongly about but finally decided to let go for now: Stronger accountability checks for members of the anti-corruption ombudsman. Having prodded his party to belatedly adopt the Lokpal bill, the Congress vice-president felt recent controversies involving the judiciary did raise questions about stricter standards that require closer attention. But tinkering with the Lokpal bill, already screened...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: After a 46-year wait, India is set to get a lokpal after the Lok Sabha on Wednesday took barely an hour to pass the landmark legislation to create a powerful anti-corruption ombudsman amid sustained disruptions by anti-Telangana MPs. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi introduced a note of urgency in the proceedings right at the start, crisply asking law minister Kapil Sibal to "keep it short" as he...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Stung by the recent spate of judgments ushering in a series of electoral reforms, the Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that judiciary should keep off a plea to bar persons, against whom charges have been framed in serious offences, from contesting polls as the issue fell squarely within the domain of legislature and government's policy arena. "The issue agitated through this petition are policy...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday forced the Centre to stop clinical trials of 162 new drugs or chemical entities which had been cleared by the expert committee for testing on human beings in India. A bench of Justices R M Lodha and Shiva Kirti Singh was about to pass an order restraining the Centre from going ahead with these clinical trials when additional solicitor general Sidharth...

-The Hindu     Report points to a serious dereliction of duty by many of the institutions involved Health activists have appreciated the Parliamentary Standing Committee's report on the "Alleged Irregularities in the Conduct of Studies Using Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Vaccine by PATH in India." They commended "its candid, transparent contents, which reflect the committee's acknowledgement of the unethical nature of the HPV trials'' conducted in the country. In the trials, Program for Appropriate...