-The Indian Express April 1 marked the third anniversary of the passage of the Right of Children for Free and Compulsory Education (RTE). There is little argument that the implementation of the RTE in these three years has been less than satisfactory. Deadlines for the enforcement of input norms - infrastructure, pupil-teacher ratios - have come and gone and potentially game-changing provisions, like 25 per cent reservation for economically weaker sections...

-The Hindu     Drug patents are designed to create profits that enable more research on diseases affecting millions. But in practice, they have often generated super profits for big pharma companies while erecting access barriers for the poor. The Novartis case spotlights much that is wrong with the system. The rejection of the Novartis petition challenging one of the most progressive tenets of the Indian Patents Act (1970), as amended in 2005 by...

-The Indian Express Nagpur: A Maharashtra forest department study, based on GPS and satellite imagery, shows that "ineligible forest areas are being claimed and granted for land plots (pattas) under the Forest Rights Act." The FRA gives traditional forest dwellers the right over lands they had encroached for farming, subject to a cutoff of December 31, 2005. The implementing authority is the tribal affairs department, a sore point with the forest...

-The Times of India President Pranab Mukherjee has given his assent to the tougher anti-rape bill, bringing into force the new legislation which provides for stringent punishment for rapists and repeat offenders and makes provisions of strict punishment for offences like stalking, voyeurism, disrobing and acid attacks. Presidential assent to the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2013, came on Tuesday - just two days before the February 3 Ordinance on the issue was...

-Live Mint Subsidized loans given to farmers through KCCs could very well be the next big source of NPAs for banks Mumbai: A surge in exposure to farm debt through Kisan Credit Cards (KCCs) could emerge as a risk for India's state-run banks, according to experts. Subsidized loans are given to farmers through KCCs by state-owned banks. Until March 2012, the outstanding amount on such loans was`1.6 trillion through 20.3 million cards, as...