-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The government has invoked special powers under the law to prohibit stent makers from withdrawing their products from the market for the next six months. Amid reports that several manufacturers, including Abbott and Medtronic, are seeking to withdraw premium, high-priced stents from the Indian market on account of the price cap imposed by National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), the government has directed companies to maintain production,...

-Business Standard To make medicines cheaper, in another measure, govt added 200 drug formulations to NLEM list New Delhi/ Mumbai: Pharma companies may soon start wooing chemists as the Narendra Modi government plans to make it mandatory for doctors to prescribe pure-generic drugs, instead of branded generics as they do now. Though the plan was first announced in this year’s Budget, the prime minister spoke about it for the first time at a...

-The Indian Express Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants doctors to prescribe generic medicines over branded ones. KAUNAIN SHERIFF M answers key questions on the pricing of drugs and beyond. * What exactly has Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on generic drugs? Speaking in Surat on April 17, the Prime Minister referred to the Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP), which aims to provide cheaper medical drugs to the people. “In the coming days,...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The agriculture ministry in consultation with the Niti Aayog has identified a set of nine marketing reforms to ensure remunerative prices to farmers for their produce by reducing intervention of middlemen. The measures are likely to be in place by July and are considered one of the key steps in doubling farmers' income by 2022. "PM Narendra Modi wants these reforms to be implemented by July. We...

-PRS Legislative Research The key findings of the report entitled: State of Agriculture in India by Tanvi Deshpande (March, 2017) are as follows: * The agriculture sector employs nearly half of the workforce in the country.  However, it contributes to 17.5% of the GDP (at current prices in 2015-16). * Over the past few decades, the manufacturing and services sectors have increasingly contributed to the growth of the economy, while the agriculture sector’s...