-The Hindu Business Line Industry likely to meet officials today New Delhi: Patients with debilitating knee problems, requiring joint replacement surgeries, would soon regain spring in their steps. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), which capped the prices of coronary stents in February, may cap the prices of knee implants soon. According to a source in the know of the developments, the price of knee implants is likely to be capped with just...

-The Hindu Business Line Policymaking has sensibly shifted away from banning the prescription of brand names More than three months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi fired the salvo on getting doctors to prescribe medicines using their generic names, the discussion seems to be on a slow burner. From the strident position that all doctors will have to prescribe medicines using their generic or chemical names, there appears to be a more reconciled acceptance...

-Business Standard EU commission is dissatisfied both with non-compliance and lack of progress by Indian authorities Bhubaneswar: Indian seafood exports may come under inspection in the European Union (EU), the third-largest market of India, because antibiotics are being frequently found in them. Speculation among UK importers is rife that the EU is considering a ban on aquaculture products from India though there is nothing to support this. In 2016-17, the European Union accounted for...

-The Times of India blog A reply by Water Resources minister Uma Bharti  to a Lok Sabha question on groundwater depletion foregrounds tough trade-offs facing India’s policymakers. According to Bharti, an assessment of groundwater resources and usage showed that 16% of 6,584 assessment units in India are “overexploited.” A table which accompanies her reply provides state-wise data. Here, Punjab stands out for the magnitude of overexploitation. If 16% of assessed units in India...

-Livemint.com Unlike the dhoti-clad, topi-wearing quintessential ‘kisan’, the new Indian farmer is vocal and tech-savvy New Delhi: In the winter of 1988 when the feisty farmer leader from Uttar Pradesh, Mahendra Singh Tikait, laid siege to Delhi with thousands of cultivators and their cattle literally creating a mess of the boat club lawns, agriculture’s share in India’s gross domestic product (GDP) was about 30%. About three decades later, the farm sector’s share in...