India's position on intellectual property rights and pharmaceutical issues in proposed trade agreements strikes a balance between fostering innovation and addressing public health needs. By resisting pressures from developed nations regarding concepts like 'data exclusivity' and 'patent linkage' in free trade agreements, India facilitates greater market access for generic drug manufacturers, leading to a significant reduction in the cost of …
Supreme Court declares electoral bonds scheme unconstitutional The Supreme Court on February 15 struck down the electoral bonds scheme, which provides blanket anonymity to financial contributions to political parties, and amendments made to the law allowing rich corporations to make unlimited political donations “unconstitutional and manifestly arbitrary”. Ajit Pawar’s faction is the real NCP: Maharashtra Speaker In another setback to …
The government announced on Thursday that it has decided to reject the demand from the four European nations in the European Free Trade Association bloc to include a 'data exclusivity' provision in proposed Free Trade Agreements. Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal stated that India will not enter into any FTA that compromises the interests of the generic drug industry. In fact, …
The proposals on intellectual property rights in the draft India-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement will hurt the global supply of generic medicines, Doctors Without Borders warned on Wednesday. In a press note, the international organisation said low medicine prices help save lives in vulnerable communities across the world but the intellectual property chapter of the India-U.K. FTA contains “harmful IP …
India pulled out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership last year as joining it would have resulted in fairly negative consequences for the country’s economy, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday. In an address at an online discussion organised by the Centre for European Policy Studies, Jaishankar also forcefully pressed for reform of the United Nations, saying one …