He has been appointed as the TRAI chief for three years or till he attains the age of 65.
Indian auto and pharma industries import several critical components and raw materials from China.
Biological E Limited plans to complete production at a rate of 75 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine Corbevax per month, anticipating over 100 million doses per month from February 2022 which will enable the Hyderabad-based company to deliver 300 Million doses as promised to the Centre, BE said on Tuesday.
The growth was led by family-owned companies and business groups with presence in pharmaceuticals, information technology services, and consumer products.
The duo bought additional shares in pharmaceutical companies Lupin and Jubilant Life Sciences, along with Agro Tech Foods and NCC during Q2FY21
A series of steps taken by the government to promote ease of doing business and liberalisation of foreign direct investment norms have helped India receive record FDI inflows so far this year, and implementation of measures like PM Gati Shakti, single window clearance and GIS-mapped land bank are expected to further push investments in 2022. Notwithstanding the global slowdown and the COVID-19 pandemic, total foreign direct investments into India rose to a record $81.72 billion in 2020-21. During April-July this fiscal, FDI (foreign direct investment) into the country increased by 62 per cent to $27.37 billion.
The Enforcement Directorate has alleged that this is a bigger bank scam in volume than that of the Punjab National Bank fraud by fugitive diamantaires Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, as it involves fraud to the tune of about Rs 16,000 crore.
India's medical devices imports surged 41 per cent to touch Rs 63,200 crore in 2021-22, led by a 48 per cent year-on-year (YoY) jump in imports from China to Rs 13,538 crore, the commerce ministry data analysed by the Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD) has showed. Local industry players say this has led to several small and medium units to shut shop. Rakesh Vaid of Usha Fabs, a garments exporter, had started making N95 masks in his Gurgaon factory during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
With the government asking the companies to operate with only 50 per cent staff strength, and exports dipping to almost zero, the truck and bus drivers idling at the petrol pump say they hardly have any work now. At a petrol pump on the deserted Bavla-Changodar highway near Ahmedabad in Gujarat, several trucks and buses are neatly parked in a row.
The country's exports for the first time crossed the $400 billion mark in a fiscal on healthy performance by sectors such as petroleum products, engineering, gems and jewellery, and chemicals, according to the commerce ministry's data released on Wednesday. The merchandise exports rose by by 37 per cent to $400.8 billion in 2021-22 until March 21 against $292 billion in 2020-21. Previously, the outbound shipments had touched a record of $330.07 billion in 2018-19.
'We expect to get the approval in the next few weeks,' says Deepak Sapra, CEO, API and pharmaceutical services, Dr Reddy's Laboratories (DRL).
The Indian pharma industry is estimated to grow at 9-11 per cent in 2021-22 and in the next few quarters, it will be driven by domestic and emerging markets, according to ratings agency ICRA. In a sample of 21 Indian pharmaceutical companies, ICRA said revenue growth was moderate at 6.4 per cent in the second quarter of FY22, down from 16 per cent in the first quarter of 2021-22. The normalisation of the base and pricing pressures in the US market were the major reasons for slowing growth momentum in Q2 FY22, even as growth under domestic and emerging markets remained healthy, ICRA said in a statement.
Sure we understand that isolating affected communities is part of the pandemic protocol, but we don't wish our life and freedom to be tossed aside at the slightest excuse, states Shyam G Menon.
Dominic Xavier wonders if the PM will opt for the Indian-made COVID-19 vaccine for the sake of Atmanirbhar Bharat.
Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V vaccine will be available in nine more cities across India, including Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Baddi, Kolhapur and Miryalaguda, informed the official twitter handle of Sputnik V.
'Investors need to expect steady returns over the next one to two years with bouts of high volatility.'
Researchers at Northwell Health in New York are testing the effects on Famotidine (used in high intravenous doses) on Covid-19 patients as a potential treatment. After the hospital announced its clinical trials, it led to a drug shortage in the US. Back home, however, there has not been any surge in the demand for Famotidine yet.
Dominic Xavier wonders when human beings can access the vaccine and terminate the mayhem caused by the coronavirus.
The government may soon give the green light to bilateral trade between Russia and India in their national currencies to avoid any trade disruptions, multiple people aware of the matter said. While the Department of Commerce has recommended the proposal, an announcement is likely to be made by the finance ministry after further deliberations between the Department of Economic Affairs and Department of Financial Services. "The finance ministry will take a call on how to peg the two currencies," a senior government official told Business Standard. In the past, the two nations have had rupee-rouble trade, and when such an arrangement is implemented again, it will bypass the sanctions imposed on Russia by the West.
The Brazilian health regulator's decision comes after the vaccine maker informed the South American country about the termination of its pact with its partners in that country.
The medical devices, which have been in high demand during the Covid-19 pandemic, will now see a drop in prices, as the earlier margins were up to 709 per cent for some of these products.
After contracting for six straight months, India's exports rose 5.99 per cent to $27.58 billion in September on account of growth in shipments of drugs and pharmaceuticals and readymade garments, as per the government data released on Thursday. Exports stood at $26.02 billion in September 2019. The country's imports contracted 19.6 per cent to $30.31 billion in September.
Artificial shortages and brazen hawking of the drug on the streets at 15 times the normal price rule the day as the official machinery tries desperately to stamp out the parallel market, reports Sohini Das
After Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal claimed that Mumbai has received a bid from Pfizer in response to its COVID-19 vaccine procurement tender, Pfizer issued a statement clarifying that it has made no such bid.
Defining "modern medicine" for the first time, the National Medical Commission (NMC), in its code of conduct, has introduced a major change, proposing the use of "Med Dr" as a prefix for those registered under the NMC Act, 2019, as practitioners of modern medicine.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, research, Religare Broking, answers your stockmarket queries.
With intermittent disruptions in the supply chain of raw materials from China, the Indian pharma industry has braced itself with bigger inventory. Even smaller drug makers are now carrying a month of buffer stock of key raw materials, said industry insiders. The lockdown in various Chinese provinces, including Shanghai, is likely to delay shipments by two weeks to a month, said domestic players. Shipments are critical for the Indian drug industry, which imports 70 per cent of its raw material from China.
"It has been decided that for approval of COVID-19 vaccines in India for restricted use in emergency situation which are already approved for restricted use by US Food Drug Administration, European Medicines Agency, UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency Japan or which are listed in WHO Emergency Use Listing and which are well established vaccines from the stand point that millions of individuals have already been vaccinated with the said vaccines, the requirement of conducting post approval bridging clinical trials and of testing every batch of vaccine by CDL, Kasauli can be exempted, if the vaccine batch/lot has been certified and released by National Control Laboratory of country of origin," it said.
The Netherlands has emerged as India's fifth-largest export destination in 2021-22 (FY22), jumping from its 10th position a year ago. Exports to the fifth-largest economy in the European Union (EU) bolted 94 per cent to $12.5 billion in the financial year ended March 31. In FY22, the Netherlands surpassed Hong Kong, Singapore, the UK, Germany, and Nepal to become India's largest export destination in the EU. Germany, which was earlier India's top European export destination (eighth position), has now dropped two ranks to 10th place.
Uncertainty looms over India's export outlook, with the new Covid-19 variant Omicron spreading rapidly across the country's key shipment destinations. With the US and parts of Europe witnessing more than 100,000 Covid-19 cases a day, exporters expect some disruption. However, there may not be an immediate decline in exports from India because the order books remain strong at least for the next few weeks, they said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to strike a fine balance between being fiscally prudent and growth supportive when she presents her fourth straight budget on Tuesday, which is expected to have plans to boost spending to revive investment and create jobs. The Budget for the fiscal year starting April 1, 2022 is likely to raise spending on infrastructure to set the economy on a firmer footing. The stage for the Budget presentation was set by the Economic Survey stating that the government has the fiscal space to do more to support the economy that is forecast to grow at a healthy 8-8.5 per cent growth in the 2022-23 fiscal.
One Chinese source informed ANI that 10 million new infections are probably occurring daily in China.
This will be the second all-party meeting called by the government to discuss the COVID-19 situation since the outbreak of the pandemic.
According to sources close to ANI, "Bharat Biotech has informed Union health ministry that it will rectify the issues pointed out by WHO in 15 to 20 days." "World Health Organisation (WHO)'s suspension is not related to safety or efficacy issues but limited only to supply for United Nations agencies."
The termination of the pact comes after the deal with the Brazilian government for supply of 20 million doses of the vaccine landed in controversy and attracted investigation by authorities in that country.
During the meeting, scheduled to be held through video conference at 6 pm on Tuesday, the Department of Biotechnology will make a presentation and also coordinate with all the participants, sources added.
The government hopes that the PLI schemes would provide 200,000-300,000 direct employment over five years, according to sources in the know.
The data leak obtained by 'The Australian' newspaper has revealed how the alleged CPC members are employed with some of the world's biggest corporations in the areas of defence, banks and pharmaceutical giants manufacturing coronavirus vaccines.
Pharmaceuticals, along with software and services, also added the most new entrants on the rich list 2018.
India will need $8 trillion (around Rs 588 lakh crore) of gross capital formation or new greenfield assets to become a $5 trillion (around Rs 368 lakh crore) economy by FY2027, a report said. The report by Deloitte said despite the COVID-19 disruption, FDI inflow into the country provides necessary optimism and display underlying strengths of the Indian economy. In FY2020-21, FDI inflows (including equity, re-invested earnings, and capital) amounted to a record $81.72 billion, 10 per cent higher than the previous financial year, it said.
