-The Indian Express Government privileges the private over the public, preferring trade to health In a dramatic development, US industry groups recently claimed the Indian government offered them a “private” assurance that compulsory licences will not be issued, save in emergencies and for non-commercial purposes. Needless to state, such an assurance flies in the face of the Patents Act and the public health safeguards enshrined in it. Illustratively, Section 84 mandates that...
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The return of paternalism -Neera Chandhoke
-The Hindu The steps taken towards social democracy are being reversed. What we have now are social insurance policies from above. This subverts the entire project of giving voice to the voiceless. India has paid a heavy price for failing to institutionalise social democracy It is generally agreed that theories of social democracy, in comparison to theories of formal political democracy, take cognisance of background inequalities that hamper the realisation of basic...
More »Cap profits, cut drug prices: Panel -Sushmi Dey
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In a move that could significantly bring down prices of expensive medicines, a high-level committee has recommended capping of trade margins for costly drugs at 35% of MRP (maximum retail price). The recommendations - part of a report submitted by an inter-ministerial committee - have been put in the public domain by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, inviting comments on the suggestions. The committee was set up...
More »State polls ahead, govt panel to keep eye on key commodities -Dipak Kumar Dash & Pradeep Thakur
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Ahead of state polls in five states, the Modi government has constituted a committee of senior officers drawn from intelligence agencies and state police to keep a close watch on the movement of essential commodities in the domestic and international markets. On Tuesday, Cabinet secretary P K Sinha took a review meeting on prices of such commodities and directed all these agencies to enforce stock limits...
More »Polavaram is reaping the Jan Dhan benefit -Gunturi Naga Sridhar
-The Hindu Business Line The scheme has made life easier for the people of this Andhra Pradesh village, one of the first in the state to have 100 per cent financial inclusion. But the local experience also throws up a few questions relevant nationally, reports Gunturi Naga Sridhar Fourty-year-old M Ravamma, from Polavaram, a village in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, had a nightmarish experience two months ago. Her husband complained...
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