-The Business Standard Court denies Swiss drug firm patent protection for its anti-cancer drug Glivec; domestic industry hails verdict The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed Novartis AG's appeal for patent protection of its anti-cancer drug, Glivec, putting an end to a seven-year battle between the Swiss drug maker, several domestic generic manufacturers, as well as patient groups fighting for affordable medicines. A Bench of judges Aftab Alam and Ranjana Desai said in a...

-Live Mint SC rejects Novartis's patent plea for Glivec, says it does not meet any standard of novelty or inventiveness In a landmark judgement, India's apex court rejected Swiss drug maker Novartis AG's legal challenge aimed at securing a patent for blockbuster anti-cancer drug imatinib mesylate, branded Glivec in the country. The verdict, which is seen as a setback to multinational pharmaceutical companies operating in India, may influence a rash of pending disputes...

-The Business Standard Ashok Gulati in a paper also gave measures to contain the inflation As India's food inflation continues to remain stubbornly high - it was in double digit for the third straight month in February 2013 at 11.38% - a discussion paper floated by eminent agriculture economist and chairman of Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices (CACP) Ashok Gulati has blamed high fiscal deficit, rising farm wages and global food...

-Live Mint State govt says did not receive notice from SC before order was issued; SKS shares fall 19.63% in intra-day trade Mumbai: Andhra Pradesh, once the largest market for microlenders and home to India's lone listed such institution SKS Microfinance Ltd, said on Thursday it would challenge the Supreme Court's recent interim order allowing the company to resume operations in the southern state, driving the stock down by almost 20%...

-The Times of India The Centre is blaming state governments for a near 20% rise in cereal prices despite overflowing granaries that have record stocks, and suspects that hoarding and high state levies are causing the spike. The latest wholesale price inflation data showed that the price increase in this segment was estimated at over 19%. According to the consumer price index, inflation is of the order of 17%. Last month, Food...