News stories by Ranjit Devraj, page 9

Voluntary and charitable organisations in India are aghast at a new law to restrict foreign contributions, that was passed by both Houses of Parliament recently.

The deaths of four infants during a recent vaccination drive in Lucknow, capital of northern Uttar Pradesh state, has raised questions about the Indian government's plan to introduce five-in-one vaccines in a countrywide immunisation programme.

Howls of protest from doctors and officials in India have followed the naming of the New Delhi Metallo-1 (NDM-1), a gene that can transform infectious bacteria into superbugs that are resistant to the most powerful antibiotics. But other experts hope that the furore on this issue may lead to a rethink on the widespread practice of using medicines indiscriminately.

Gazing out at the lush greenery that surrounds the village of Salaita in northern India, a smile of satisfaction appears on retired army general A.P.S. Chauhan's face.

At a time when the World Health Organisation (WHO) faces charges that it hyped up the swine flu pandemic to benefit pharmaceutical companies, India is sprucing up its indigenous capacity to manufacture vaccines against the H1N1 virus.

The death sentence awarded to Pakistani national Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, 22, for his role in the 2008 terror attack on the western port city of Mumbai that killed 166 people is being seen as a setback for a campaign to have the extreme punishment abolished in India.

Allegations that India’s junior foreign minister Shashi Tharoor had swung outsize ‘sweat equity’ for a female friend in a newly floated professional cricket league franchise may have cost him his job, but it may also expose the multi- million dollar India Premium League (IPL) as a massive money-laundering enterprise.

Rinki Kumari’s white laminate-topped desk at the Bank of India’s branch here in Sahdeokhap village in eastern Bihar state is easily the busiest, with men, women and even children crowding around her.

The U.S.-based multinational Union Carbide got away lightly after causing the world’s worst industrial tragedy at Bhopal, but that legacy has come to haunt U.S. corporations seeking to tap India’s newly opened market for nuclear power equipment.

With assured backing from India's main opposition groups, the ruling Congress party hopes to see voted through in the upper house of Parliament Monday a bill reserving 33 percent of seats in national and provincial legislatures for women.