Declare paid news an electoral malpractice, say parties

Declare paid news an electoral malpractice, say parties

New Delhi, March 13: Senior leaders of the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) on Saturday suggested amending the Representation of People's Act (RPA) to declare paid news an electoral malpractice. At a seminar on paid news organised by the Editors Guild of India and the Indian Women's Press Corps, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj (BJP), CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat and Congress spokesman Manish Tewari called for steps to check the malpractice, which had been widely noticed in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.

The suggestion to declare paid news an electoral malpractice came from Karat, who said self-regulation by the media would not be enough to solve the problem. The suggestion was supported by the other two parties. "Paid news should be declared an electoral malpractice. If existing laws do not allow this, then suitable changes can be made," he said, noting that the model code of conduct for elections does not cover the problem. Sushma Swaraj said that law would need to be amended to categorise paid news as an electoral malpractice. Citing the example of her own election from Vidisha, she said her media officials were approached with packages of Rs 1 crore.

Walt Disney Enters India with its Ambitious Plans

Walt Disney Enters India with its Ambitious Plans

The Walt Disney Company is reported to be in a bid to boost its production initiatives in India as the company initiates with betting big on localization and charting a roadmap to make 14 new family-oriented films in India.

Among the projects, five of them are believed to be in advanced stages of planning.

Mahesh Samat, managing director, The Walt Disney Company (India) said: “We are pretty serious about India. Local content will make the Disney brand more relevant in India. Going forward our efforts will be to invest in Hindi films. Outside the US, India is the top market for investment in local content.”

The still-to-be-named South Indian epic fantasy is slated to release by January next year.

The Telegu-language movie, which is a dubbed version of it in Tamil, is anticipated to boost the company’s stand in the south Indian market.

http://www.topnews.in/walt-disney-enters-india-its-ambitious-plans-2256256

JD (U) divided over women’s quota

JD (U) divided over women’s quota

NEW DELHI/PATNA, March 6: Sharp divisions emerged among the opponents of the women’s reservation Bill with Bihar Chief Nitish Kumar supporting the measure pitting himself against his party president Sharad Yadav who is opposed to it.

“When I was a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee, I had given a dissent note (more than a decade ago). Now the time has come to give women reservation in Parliament and State Assemblies. I will talk to Sharadji and appeal to him to ensure passage of the bill,” Mr. Kumar told reporters in Patna.

However, JD(U) President Sharad Yadav, a strong opponent of the Bill ever since its introduction in 1997, said his party’s opposition to the measure in its present form would continue

India tops exporting generic medicines

India tops exporting generic medicines

BHUBANESWAR: India tops in the world in exporting generic medicines worth of Rs 50,000 crore and currently, the Indian pharmaceutical industry is

one of the world's largest and most developed, according to union minister of state for chemicals and fertilisers Srikanta Jena.

The country, today, exports to more than 200 countries around the globe including the highly regulated markets of US, Europe, Japan and Australia. India exported drugs worth around $8 billion in 2008-09, most of which to the US and Europe, followed by Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa.

"The Indian pharmaceutical industry, now a Rs one lakh crore industry, has shown tremendous progress in terms of infrastructure development, technology, human resource with a wide range of products. It has established its presence and has shown determination to flourish in a changing environment", Mr Jena on Sunday told "The ET".

Mr Jena was here to launch Jan Ausadhi Abhiyan, the National campaign to ensure universal reach of generic medicines across the population.

The country now ranks 3rd worldwide in volume and 14th in terms of value. The industry now produces bulk drugs belonging to all major therapeutic groups requiring complicated manufacturing technologies.

"Formulations in various dosage forms are being produced in Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and WHO compliant facilities. Strong scientific and technical manpower and pioneering work done in process development have made these possible", Mr Jena remarked adding that the Department of Pharmaceuticals is working with the vision to make India one of the top five global pharmaceutical innovation hubs by 2020.

The economic and social returns of investments made towards this aspiration could be significant, and this could help India create more than 500,000 high value jobs for its youth and provide the country with low cost healthcare for chronic and life threatening ailments like malaria and tuberculosis," he added.

Talking about Jan Aushadhi campaign, Mr Jena said the government will facilitate setting up of 'Jan Aushadhi' Stores where unbranded quality generic medicines are sold and made available at lower prices with the objective to reduce the healthcare costs of which medicines form a major part.

The word 'generic' is used to describe a product, particularly a drug, which does not have a trademark. For example, 'paracetamol' is a chemical ingredient that is found in many branded painkillers and is often sold as a generic medicine in its own right. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com