- India must invest in fundamental research to develop reliable drugs
- Expectations are high that a free trade agreement involving India and the European Free Trade Association is close to fruition.
- A bone of contention relates to intellectual property rights and has persisted as an issue since 2008. New legal innovations such as data exclusivity continue to Inveigle themselves in free trade negotiations.
- Under this provision all the clinical trial data that concerns the safety and efficacy of a drug generated by the originator firm becomes proprietary and out of bounds for a minimum period of 6 years.
- Permission to make a generic is possible if a country’s regulator can rely on supplied clinical trial data to approve a drug. For this generic makers usually rely on the originator’s published data.
- This could significantly hinder India’s drug industry which is also a major exporter of affordable drugs.
- However, as a preparation India must invest substantially more in fundamental research to incubate the local drug industry into the future.
- Data exclusivity refers to protection of clinical trial data required to be submitted to a regulatory agency to prove safety and efficacy of a new drug, and prevention of generic drug manufacturers from relying on this data in their own applications.
2. ED probe finds no FEMA violations in Paytm case
- The enforcement directorate has not found any violation under the Foreign Exchange Management Act during its inquiry into paytm payments bank limited transactions.
- The Reserve Bank of India has the authority to take action against certain other instances of alleged noncompliance according to the sources privy to the matter.
- The enforcement directorate investigates suspected violations or offences under the FEMA and the prevention of money laundering act.
- The legal framework for the administration of foreign exchange transactions in India is provided by the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999
3. Torpedoes, refueller aircraft in new deals cleared by DAC
- The defence acquisition council accorded acceptance of necessity for proposals worth rs 84560 crore.
- The proposals include heavyweight torpedoes for the scorpion class submarines and flight refueler aircraft for the Indian Air Force.
- Other major deals include medium range maritime reconnaissance and multimedia maritime aircraft for the Navy and the Coast Guard.
- DAC is the highest decision-making body in the Defence Ministry for deciding on new policies and capital acquisitions for the three services – Army, Navy and Air Force, and the Indian Coast Guard. The Defence Acquisition Council is headed by the Defence Minister.
4. Use Chabahar Port, India tells Central Asian countries
- India has urged Central Asian countries to use the port of Chabahar located on the southeast coast of Iran to enhance connectivity and trade with India and other countries in the world.
- India’s deputy national security adviser invited centralization neighbours to utilise the Chabahar Port as well as the Shahid Behesti Terminal at the port for maritime trade with India and other countries of the world.
- Chabahar Port is a seaport in Chabahar located in southeastern Iran, on the Gulf of Oman. It serves as Iran’s only oceanic port, and consists of two separate ports named Shahid Kalantari and Shahid Beheshti, each of which has five berths.
5. SBI in talks with RBI to lower CRR on green deposits
- State Bank of India was in talks with the Reserve Bank of India to reduce the cash reserve ratio requirement on green deposits.
- The State Bank of India had announced a green deposit scheme to attract long term retail deposits to be used only to fund green transition projects or climate friendly projects.
- This is a first of its kind in the domestic banking.
- A green deposit is a fixed-term deposit for investors looking to invest their surplus cash reserves in environmentally friendly projects
ONE LINER
- Prototype of new generation unmanned aerial vehicle has been tested successfully.
- Developed by National Aerospace Laboratories,Bengaluru
- Range can fly upto 20kms from Ground and fully solar powered.
- HAPS Vehicle: High Altitude Pseudo Satellite Vehicle.
