Drug major Dr Reddy's Laboratories is recalling 1,752 bottles of generic heartburn medicine in the US after the American health regulator found quality issues with the product. As per the latest Enforcement Report by the the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), the Hyderabad-based drug firm is voluntarily recalling 1,752 bottles (1,000 count) of 40 mg Esomeprazole Magnesium delayed release capsules in the US. The ongoing Class III recall is on account of "Discolouration" and because the product contains brown pellets, USFDA said. As per the US health regulator, a class III recall is initiated in a situation "in which use of or exposure to a violative product is not likely to cause adverse health consequences". The recalled product lot has been manufactured at Dr Reddy's Bachupally manufacturing facility in Telangana and is being recalled by the company's US-based arm. Esomeprazole Magnesium delayed release capsules are indicated to reduce the amount of acid in the stomach and ...

Uttarkashi on Sunday reported its first COVID-19 case, raising Uttarakhand's coronavirus tally to 68. Uttarkashi district falls in the green zone.The red, orange and green zone classification is based on the number of coronavirus cases, doubling rate of coronavirus cases, and the extent of testing and surveillance The man, who tested positive, hails from Dhanaripatti village in Dunda block and had returned recently from Surat in Gujarat, Chief Medical Officer DP Joshi said. Three persons who came along with him in separate two wheelers from Gujarat have been kept in isolation, he said, adding contact tracing is underway. The 32-year-old man's swab sample was tested at AIIMS, Rishikesh, Joshi said.

Notwithstanding the ongoing lockdown which has mostly restricted the movement of vehicles to essential commodities only, the 270-km Jammu-Srinagar national highway has become a nightmare for the commuters due to the pathetic condition of the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country. The people living along the strategic highway, especially in the most slide prone Ramban-Banihal sector, are also exasperated over the slow pace of work on the four-laning project being undertaken by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) over the past nine years. "This is not the road but has become a virtual death trap. You can see the drivers of all types of vehicles, both light and heavy, moving out of their lanes to avoid the massive potholes dotting the highway right from Samroli to Qazigund, a distance of almost 120-kms, thus increasing the chances of accidents on the hilly road," Rajinder Singh, a frequent traveller between the twin capitals, told PTI. Singh said ..

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said 75 per cent of COVID-19 cases in the city are asymptomatic or with mild symptoms. The chief minister said the government has also issued an order for requisition of ambulances of private hospitals, adding that the decision has been taken in the wake of shortage of state-run ambulances. "They (private ambulances) will have to be pressed into service when the government requires their service," Kejriwal said while addressing an online media briefing. The government has made arrangements for treatment of those at their homes with mild COVID-19 symptoms in accordance with the Centre's guidelines. "Out of 6,923 COVID-19 patients, only 1,476 are admitted at hospitals, rest getting treatment at their homes and COVID-19 centres," Kejriwal added.

Women domestic workers and children narrated horrific stories of violence and abuse at a recent public hearing in New Delhi, co-organized by the National Commission for Women (NCW). Organizers aimed to raise public awareness. Teresa Barat reports.

The new government's candour that meaningful reforms must permeate into the institutions beyond the budgetary process itself is a start. The India Together editorial.

Why are our publicly held/debated notions of morality limited to a few things such as the world of those castigated as sexual outliers? Partly, the fault lies in our public discourse - a discourse that has turned conversations about morality itself into rare events. The India Together editorial.

In our system of government, elected representatives of the people make laws, as well as administer them. Although the constitution separates these roles well, in practice, we find that the lawmaking role is nearly always superceded by administrative preferences, and only limited benefits result from the legislative discourse. The India Together editorial.

Why are the more liberal practices of Muslim citizens only called upon during times of negative perception of Islam itself? Why should we then not take the liberalism of the average Khan to be real representation of Muslims at all times? The India Together editorial.

Aarti Madhusudhan begins a series on the workings of development organizations. In this first part, she looks at the role of board members: their obligations, services, and even their identities!

Aarti Madhusudhan continues her series on the workings of development organizations. In this second part, she looks at the Annual Report, the centerpiece of an organization's communication efforts.

Aarti Madhusudhan outlines the do's and dont's of getting new NGO Board members to be an integral part of the organisation.

While Mayawati's projects to build parks and statues have drawn derision in the drawing rooms of the stately homes in the country, the people at her rallies are in awe of her. Her work is Dalit power, they feel and will make her immortal. Kulsum Mustafa has more.

The Social Work Research Centre addresses community problems by building upon people's skills, and placing the solutions in their own hands.

The Centre for Women's Development Studies (CWDS) has developed long-overdue indicators to assess gender sensitivity in governance.

Economic prosperity isn't always a sign of social progress. A new study of gender biases around the country finds the wealthier states have much to answer for.

Indra Chopra looks at the dowry custom cloaked within current-day marriages.

A workshop to explore the struggles of women writers brings to light the similar threads of censorship that run through many languages.

Lalitha Sridhar presents excerpts from an audience interaction with Naomi Ackerman after a performance of Flowers aren't enough, an acclaimed solo play on domestic violence, at Chennai.

Geeta Seshu recalls the women of 2003, whose lives offered hope for improved rights tomorrow, and also reminded us of the failures we live with today.

The fleeting attention that is given to the rape of a girl in school hides the systematic harassment and violence that so many are subjected to - an important reason why girls drop out of the education system around the age of puberty. Deepti Priya Mehrotra reports.

Stifled by a culture of incredulity, public and private lenders alike have made little progress in supporting women-run businesses, In such a scenario, self-help groups, better able to judge women's plans for themselves, have taken up the slack, but there is still a long road to travel for aspiring businesswomen. Puja Awasthi reports.

The eagerness to take up their issues themselves has not automatically led to a smooth start for the All India Muslim Women's Personal Law Board. But clearly, there is now more discussion of the issues that interest them. And that is a significant step in itself. Puja Awasthi reports.

Dilution or outright waiver of punishment if a rapist offers to marry his victim is an extra-legal step, one that is not written into law anywhere. But it continues to be entertained because the internalisation of stigmatisation is wide-spread, and even the victims believe it. Shoma Chatterji reports.

Things are looking up says a beaming Usha Chaumar, 33, formerly a manual scavenger. "We make pickles, vermicelli and 'papad' (spicy savouries) at home, too, which gets us an additional income of around Rs 2,000 per month." Renu Rakesh has more.

Manjari Singh reports on the opening of the Lucknow branch of Sheroes Hangout, a café run and managed by acid attack survivors under the guidance of the humanitarian organisation “Stop Acid Attacks”

Women are making a mark in a profession almost entirely dominated by men. Shoma Chatterji talks to the women idol makers of Kumartuli to find out about their struggle and success.

Shoma A. Chatterji brings focus to the issue of bride trafficking, a lesser known but widely prevalent practice in parts of India, through movie Paro.

Last year's poor monsoon is only the most proximate reason for the drought-related suffering; failures in many aspects of governance led inevitably to misery, say Manu Mathai and Ashwin Mahesh.

Despite lack of support from policy-makers, potato farmers continue to deploy indigenously developed production and storage techniques, says Virendar Khatana.

Is contract farming the answer to the current woes confronting the nation's farmers, as various corporates claim? Or has the agri-business sector played the right trick at just the right time, with traditional agriculture in the doldrums in so many regions? Gagandeep Kaur reports.

New electronic trading exchanges promise to give Indian farmers better options for marketing their crops, eliminating middle-men costs substantially in the process. To gain market-share, the exchanges will have to help farmers become familiar with the system. Gagandeep Kaur reports.

Serious and rampant irregularities exposed by the CAG audit of the Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme, 2008 hold important cautionary advice for the government as it seeks to launch direct cash transfers. Himanshu Upadhyaya analyses.

The India Together editorial.

Why is the struggle for women representatives so much harder at the national level? Is every effort merely a pretense, a concession to the few highly educated and aware women voters that ultimately means nothing to the great majority of others? Vaijayanti Gupta notes yet another opportunity thwarted.

The task of cleansing our polity of crime and corruption is best done by people of compassion, empathy, humility and deep caring, people who remain fair and non partisan even when dealing with those they hate, writes Madhu Purnima Kishwar.

In a country where the need for collective and institutional engagement in social improvement is stark, Shankar Jaganathan explores the role and contours of individual responsibility - both towards self and society - as a necessary precondition for the former.

Political differences notwithstanding, given the shared socio-cultural fabric, it makes sense for India to collaborate with her South Asian neighbours and look to them for solutions to common problems, writes Sakuntala Narasimhan.

Women in India have continually faced restrictions on how they dress, whether it is on wearing jeans to college or sports gear on the fields. Shoma Chatterji looks at this persistent trend of sartorial repression and urges women to reject such diktats.

India's share in international trade has increased from 0.7 percent to 1 percent, which is a remarkable achievement, some say. In the meantime, lakhs of farmers in Kerala are being adversely affected by reduction of import tariffs on edible oils, spices and other cash crops. Thomas Varghese delves deeper.

A recent Bombay HC ruling on the powers of the NCW, with regard to a case involving sexual harassment at the workplace, could have significant implications for gender justice in the long term. Revathi Siva Kumar looks at the facts of the case and the debate that it has stirred up. 

Can a legal ruling, never mind if it is from the apex court of the country, change the socio-cultural and psychological ramifications of unwed motherhood in India? Shoma A Chatterji probes deeper to find out the social and sociological impact of the ruling on the family.

An innovative project in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka is helping sex workers empower themselves, by training them as paralegal volunteers. A confident community is fighting exploitation, standing up and being counted, reports Ramesh Menon.

Tribals constitute 32 per cent of Chhatisgarh's population. Yet, four years after the state was born, the status of the tribal population does not seem to be improving. At a recent meeting in the state, a network of journalists and activists took stock of the situation. Surekha Sule reports.

A simple way to claim that everyone affected by dam construction is properly rehabilitated is to make a list of affected persons - and then leave off thousands of them from the list. This has been the history of rehabilitation in the Narmada valley. Himanshu Upadhyaya notes that after many years, the game isn't quite adding up in the courts.

Collective Action for Rural Development (CAFORD) encourages families in Andhra's Prakasam district to keep their children in school.

Following allegations of wide-spread child labour in their business activities, foreign and Indian agri-business firms pledge to reform themselves. An update from The India Committe of the Netherlands.

Over 230,000 people in hundreds of villages to be displaced, tens of thousands of acres submerged, wildlife and forest lands inundated - the Polavaram project will repeat the great tragedy of displacement and environmental damage that has marked so many other projects in the country. R Uma Maheshwari reports.

A moratorium on loan recoveries is supposed to bring distressed farmers a bit of relief. But in the Parakal region of Warangal district, the Andhra Pradesh government's directive has taken farmers from the fire to the frying pan, says one farmer. Kondal Rao has more.

Drawing upon the growing incidence of child abandonment in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, Tejaswini Pagadala looks at the phenomenon through a broader lens and explores possible ways, including adoption, to mitigate the evil.