-The Hindu Business Line Eminent agriculture scientist MS Swaminathan, Chairman of the much discussed Farmers’ Commission whose report mooted an MSP at 50 per cent above cost, feels that income support can be given in the form of free inputs or higher procurement as well. While welcoming ‘PM-Kisan’, he says cash transfer should not become a form of patronage and that the focus should shift from loan write-offs to long-term policies....

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In what is being seen as an attempt to delay launch of low priced generic medicines, multinational drug makers have asked the government to create a registry providing information about all drug applications pending manufacturing and marketing approval. The proposal, if accepted by the government, will help ‘big pharma’ pre-emptively challenge generic drug makers in court for allegedly infringing upon their patents and in turn blocking...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: To promote low-cost generic medicines, the government’s top drug regulatory board has allowed Jan Aushadhi Kendras — which are like fair price shops for medicines under the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana — to substitute doctor’s prescription with a generic brand. On Thursday, the Drugs Technical Advisory Board cleared a proposal to amend a rule under the drugs law. “This proposal asking permission for chemists to...

-The Hindu Consumption of poor quality medicines could be accelerating drug resistance. India has to share some of the blame It is common for patients to stop taking medicines as soon as they start feeling better. Doctors have blamed this particular habit — of not completing the entire dose of antibiotics — to the emergence of drug resistant strains in diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis (TB). However, experts say that under-dosing,...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: The government could look at introducing new sectoral regulations or amending existing ones to allow entities such as banks and mobile companies to continue using the Aadhaar number for faster authentication and customer acquisition. Such use has been banned by the Supreme Court ruling that struck down parts of Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act that allow sharing of data in this manner. Inter-ministerial consultations will be...