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It is now almost 45 years since the high-profile Hathi Committee recommended the urgent need for manufacturing active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) or bulk drugs in India for the country’s future health safety. The size of India’s pharmaceutical market at that time was less than Rs. 500 crore, dominated by multinational companies from the US and Europe. Time has vastly changed. India’s pharmaceutical market grew sharply over the last four decades. The production is now worth over Rs. 2,50,000 crore. And, India’s drugs export, mostly generics, in 2018-19 stood at US$ 19.13 billion or worth Rs.1,40,000crore and reached US$ 9.36 billion (Rs.70,000 crore) in 2019-20 (till October 2019). It is expected to grow by 30 per cent to reach US$ 20 billion by this year end. What did not change is India’s import dependence of APIs or bulk drugs. Only the key import sources changed — originally from western countries to a new Asian entrant, Communist China.

The parting shot of the young Jyotiraditya to the Congress president Sonia Gandhi was something of his maltreatment by the Gandhi family. It needs to be taken seriously, for Sonia was acquainted for a long time with his father Madhavrao Scindia. He had introduced her to Rajiv Gandhi in 1966. The young Scindia had also spent twenty years with the family after he was elected to Parliament after death of his father Madhavrao in a plane accident.

Fear has gripped the world with the spread of novel Coronavirus infecting thousands of people and sending many of them to death. The fear is real and natural and is the outcome of the fact no effective medicine has been developed to cure the disease. Only option left is to protect oneself from contamination by novel Coronavirus otherwise called COVID-19. The use of masks, avoiding physical contacts like handshake, washing hands with sanitizer, focusing on cleanliness, keeping distance from people having cough and cold and fever and from pets have become the order of the day. Many public events and visas to foreigners are cancelled. Cinema halls and malls are closed in many cities to avoid public gathering.

Jaishankar, the minister for external affairs is free to warn and issue word of caution against the international fraternity for expressing their concern on what has happened in Delhi ten days back, but he must understand he cannot put a lock on their mouths from expressing their views and opinions.

At a time when India’s economic growth dipped below five per cent, Tamil Nadu has shown the way to sustain 8 per cent state growth and perhaps provided a blue-print for other states to ward off a difficult economic scenario.

The hike in the excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs three per litre is a cruel joke played by the Modi government on the people of this country when global crude prices have nosedived by a third. When consumers all over the world are enjoying a handsome cut in the prices that they are paying at fuel stations, Indians are forced to dish out more cash for the same quantity of petrol or diesel.

Economists world over are talking of the possible consequences of the sudden outbreak of coronavirus on global economy. While many are comparing the current crisis with the 2008 financial meltdown, others are seeking lessons from earlier instances of large scale epidemics.

Will the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh, headed by Chief Minister Kamal Nath, survive the 22 MLAs quitting along Jyotiraditya Scindia? The MLAs apparently come under anti-defection law. The Assembly Speaker, N P Prajapati, who belongs to the Congress, has lot of discretion in the matter. He may not accept their resignations, which appears unlikely; he may direct them to come to the house; whether they participate in no-trust voting or not, they stand disqualified outright.

Gurugram: Gursimar Badwal ended a 14-month title drought with a superb three-under 69 that saw her complete a fine rally and won the sixth leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the Classic Golf & Country Club, Gurugram.

The agreement signed between the USA and the Taliban in Doha on 29 February in the presence of representatives from India, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, Indonesia, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan – signalling a cessation to two decades of bloody war and withdrawal of the US troops in the rugged terrain of landlocked Afghanistan – faces a lemma of uncertainties pertaining to its implementation. As per the deal, in 14 months and a half, the number of US forces will be reduced from about 13,000 to 8,600. In exchange, the Taliban agreed to renounce al-Qaeda and prevent al-Qaeda and other groups from using Afghanistan as a base for terrorism against the USA. They agreed to negotiate a permanent ceasefire also with other Afghan militants and the Afghan government.