Having watched from the ringside for many years now, I have no doubt in advising that the steering wheel must be firmly grasped by the government and direction given to policies that should be stable for at least the medium term. This is crucial for the growth of Indian pharma, a $20-billion industry growing at an average of 12% considering both domestic and export arenas. Price control: The biggest and most...

The permission given by the Centre for new registrations for export of cotton has brought little cheer either to cotton farmers or to the huge cotton processing industry in Adilabad district. Both the segments feel the move is too little and too late. Almost all the cotton produced in this district has arrived in the markets and no trader has dared stocking cotton bales this season owing to its low price....

-PTI Competition watchdog CCI has imposed Rs 317 crore in penalties on three companies, including agro-chemicals major United Phosphorus, for collusive bidding to supply ALP tablets to Food Corporation of India (FCI).  The aluminium phosphide (ALP) tablet manufacturers -- United Phosphorus, Excel Crop Care, and Sandhya Organics -- have been fined 9 per cent of the their three years' average profits.  ALP tablets are used by the FCI for preserving its central pool...

Rural India has been denied access to globalisation, penalising farmers and farm labour. For the farmer, the government's policy is best described as Dhritarashtra's embrace. After the Mahabharata war was over, the old king met his nephews, the victorious Pandavas, and embraced them, one by one, in a gesture of forgiving and affection. When, Bhima's turn came, the loving embrace was so tight that it crushed a metal dummy of the second...

-PTI   The Competition Commission of India (CCI) today imposed a penalty of Rs 165.58 crore on 48 LPG cylinder makers for forming a cartel while bidding during the tenders floated by Indian Oil in 2010-11. The competition watchdog imposed the penalty after finding them guilty of manipulating the bids and quoting "identical rates in groups through an understanding and collusion action". The ruling was based on the findings of the CCI's Director General...