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The Indian Express Ramchandra Guha, February 09, 2018 Here is a counter-factual: If Rahul Gandhi had not been Congress president, would the prime minister have spoken recently in parliament of how Vallabhbhai Patel would have made a better prime minister than Jawaharlal Nehru? Narendra Modifirst played the Nehru vs Patel trick during the campaign for the 2014 general elections. Why is he playing it again, four years later? Largely because it is a convenient handle to distract voters away from the failures of his own government. The “achhe din” he promised have manifestly not arrived for the youth and the farmers, while “bure din” have manifestly arrived for Muslims and other minorities (and arguably for Dalits too). India is now a year away from a general election. On what grounds will the prime minister seek to win once more? From stray comments he has let slip, it seems that he knows that demonetisation was a mistake, and that GST was carelessly implemented. The economy i...

FE Bureau February 09, 2018 Dr Reddy’s Laboratories has initiated voluntary recall of over 80,000 bottles of Atorvastatin calcium tablets of 10mg, 20mg and 40mg from the US market due to quality concerns. Atorvastatin is a drug that blocks production of cholesterol and reduces its level in the blood. According to a notification issued by the drug regulator, US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), multiple lots of Atorvastatin 10 mg, 90 count and 500 count bottles; 20 mg, 90 count and 500 count bottles and 40 mg, 90 count bottles, are being withdrawn from the market. The product is being recalled through three separate letters to the drug regulator. Calculate your income tax post budget 2018 through this Income Tax Calculator, get latest news on Budget 2018 and Auto Expo 2018. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Reference; http://www.financialexpress.com/industry/dr-reddys-laboratories-recalls-over-80000-bottles-of-atorvastatin-from-us/1058939/?utm_source=whatsapp...

FE Bureau February 09, 2018 A committee set up by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday recommended that the government consider offering tax-based incentives to merchants to encourage the adoption of digital means of payments in the country. “Given that fintech companies are in their infancy but are growing at a rapid pace, the government may consider introducing tax subsidies for merchants that accept a certain proportion of their business revenues from the use of digital payments as opposed to cash,” said the report of the inter-regulatory working group on fintech and digital banking, chaired by Sudarshan Sen, executive director, RBI. The report also emphasised the need for a data protection law in the country, stating that while sections under the Information Technology Act, 2000, provide for redressal in instances of data breach, the protections guaranteed by them are often subject to the particular terms of a contract between two parties. “…that data protection is ...

Business Sandard Shine Jacob   February 8, 2018 The government is estimating generation of 88,000 direct and indirect jobs through the investments in these fields The Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared a proposal to conduct the second round of Discovered Small Fields (DSF) auctions, in which 60 oil and gas fields will be up for grabs for investors. About 22 of these fields belong to Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and 5 fileds belong to the Oil India Limited(OIL). Of the rest, 21 fields are the ones which did not find any takers during the first round of DSF and 12 were relinquished discovered fields from the New Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP) rounds. This is likely to have reserves to the tune of 194.65 Million Metric tonnes of oil equivalent (MMtoe). The government is estimating generation of 88,000 direct and indirect jobs through the investments in these fields. During the first round of DSF, 30 companies got awarded with blocks — out of which ...

The Indian Express Written by  Harish Damodaran   February 8, 2018  The MSP for a 450-gram packet of Bt cotton seeds is now Rs 800, of which Rs 49 is the royalty (“trait value”) on Bollgard-II (BG II), the proprietary technology of the US life sciences major Monsanto.     Will the pressure to be seen as farmer-friendly, especially with national elections looming, lead the  Narendra Modi government to scrap the “trait value” on Bt cotton? There is increasing talk of this, even as the Agriculture Ministry is expected to fix the maximum sale price (MSP) of Bt cotton seed packets for the coming kharif planting season by early next month. The MSP for a 450-gram packet of Bt cotton seeds is now Rs 800, of which Rs 49 is the royalty (“trait value”) on Bollgard-II (BG II), the proprietary technology of the US life sciences major Monsanto. BG II technology allows seed firms to incorporate two genes ‘cry1Ac’ and ‘cry2Ab’, isolated from the soil ...

The Telegraph Nick Timothy Kate McCann   Claire Newell   Luke Heighton   8 FEBRUARY 2018  G eorge Soros, the billionaire known as the man who “broke the Bank of England”, is backing a campaign to overturn  Brexit , the Telegraph can disclose. The investor is one of three senior figures linked to the Remain-supporting campaign group Best for  Britain who plan to launch a nationwide advertising campaign this month, which they hope will lead to a  second referendum  to keep Britain in the EU. The campaign is trying to recruit major Tory donors in an attempt to undermine Theresa May. It also plans to target MPs and convince them to vote against the final Brexit deal to trigger another referendum or general election, according to a strategy document leaked from a meeting of the group. Reference-http://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/02/07/george-soros-man-broke-bank-england-backing-secret-plot-thwart/

Economic Times IANS Updated: Feb 07, 2018, 09.13 PM IST US Ambassador to India Kenneth I. Juster on Wednesday said India should seize the strategic opportunity through trade and investment to become a major hub for US business in the Indo-Pacific region.  Juster said the US seeks to assist India's effort to build up "its indigenous defence capabilities as well as enhance the inter-operability of our two forces" as major defence partners in the Indo-Pacific region.  "India should now seize the strategic opportunity -- through trade and investment -- to become a major hub for US business in the Indo-Pacific region," he said while addressing a session hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce (Eastern Region) and the Bengal Chamber of Commerce here.  According to him, India is in the midst of an economic surge, as it integrates more into the global economy, and the US trade and investment relationship with India continues to grow.  Bilateral ...

The Hindu FEBRUARY 08, 2018 Feroz Ali & Sudarsan Rajagopal India’s rejection of secondary patents has kept blockbuster medicines affordable for many The global sales of the world’s best-selling prescription drug, Humira, continue to grow even after the expiry of the patent over its main ingredient, adalimumab, a biologic used for the treatment of arthritis. By 2020, AbbVie Inc, makers of Humira, expects its sales to touch $21 billion — a figure that will surpass India’s  pharmaceutical  exports for that year. But success has its price. In 2015, faced with the imminent expiry of the patent for Humira’s main ingredient, AbbVie reassured investors that the “Broad U.S. Humira Patent Estate” — a list of 75 secondary patents in the U.S. for new indications, new methods of treatment, new formulations, and the like — would take care of the problem. But what was the problem? Patents offer their owners market exclusivity for a limited period of time. For medicines, this ...

The Hindu Puja Mehra  FEBRUARY 08, 2018  The slowdown in private investments is visible chiefly in the informal sector, not the corporate sector It is now well recognised that there is an investment slowdown in India, which is delaying a full-blooded recovery in the economy. Private  investments,  the principle engine of growth, are out of steam. The fall is so severe that it has more than offset the government’s macroeconomic stimulus of increased public investments. The slowdown started five years ago, and is, as Economic Survey 2018 notes, the most severe in India’s history. Investments peaked 11 years ago. The Survey recommends urgent prioritisation of investment revival to arrest more lasting growth impacts, with policy focus on both big and small companies, creating a conducive environment for the smaller industries to prosper and invest, with their ‘animal spirits’ conjured back. That will not be enough to restart the private investments cycle....

Indian Express Written by  Sushant Singh   New Delhi  February 8, 2018 The MoD in a statement said that “the deal secured by the (present) Government is better in terms of capability, price, equipment, delivery, maintenance, training, etc.” than the one negotiated by the UPA government for 126 Rafale fighter aircraft. The Opposition had raised questions on the deal for 36 Rafale fighters. The ministry said misleading remarks caused serious damage. The Ministry of Defence Wednesday called the Opposition’s charges on the deal for 36 Rafale fighters “unfounded” and said “serious damage (was) being caused by the misleading statements” on a “serious matter of national security”. The MoD in a statement said that “the deal secured by the (present) Government is better in terms of capability, price, equipment, delivery, maintenance, training, etc.” than the one negotiated by the UPA government for 126 Rafale fighter aircraft. The government’s statem...