The central government’s decision to allow up to 74 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) as brownfield investment in the domestic pharmaceutical companies for their acquisition by the foreign firms through the automatic route has serious implications for the development of pharmaceutical industry and public health in India. With this change in FDI policy, the Modi government has opened up for powerful multinationals and investors the easy route of acquisition of well-established domestic pharmaceutical companies.

What is at stake ?

THE Antrix Devas Agreement was entered into without thought and terminated equally badly. The country might pay a huge price – not only for the mistake of signing a bad contract, but also for not knowing how to get out of such a contract. The two tribunal awards show the danger of the 80 odd bilateral investment treaties that India has entered into under which we are already seeing a spate of disputes.

FREE Basics, promoted by Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, rejected by TRAI in February this year, appears to have made a comeback with TRAI's new consultations paper dated May 19 on Free Data. The paper seems to imply that the problem with Free Basics was not that Facebook would be a gatekeeper for the internet, promoting some content over others, but its tying up with only one Telecom Service Provider (Telco), namely Reliance Communications. If Facebook offers this service to other Telcos as well, apparently Free Basics will then somehow become fair.

A GOLDEN Raspberry Award or Razzie has been awarded in Hollywood every year since 1981 to the film declared to be the worst movie of the year just a day before the Oscars. If there were a Razzie for the worst public policy in India in the recent past, it would certainly go to the Modi government’s announcement of opening up the defence manufacturing sector to 100 percent FDI with relaxed norms.

THE fourth visit of Modi to the US has very little to show as achievements. No wonder, the headlines screamed about “the start of the preparatory work” on six nuclear reactors as a major achievement. Not content with this, the Westinghouse AP 1000 reactors were hyped as fifth generation reactors, skipping two whole generations of reactors in between. The earlier AP 600 reactors are recognised as second generation reactors, making the AP 1000 the third generation, which is how they are known in the rest of the world – except to certain gentlemen in the Indian media.