BIG BUCKS GAME: Investments worth Rs 2,40,000 crore will be made in India over the next two decades (AP)

The WNA has cited “examples of globalisation of the nuclear industry”, saying firms have already formed global alliances. These include France’s Areva with Japan’s Mitsubishi, GE with Hitachi as well as Westinghouse becoming a subsidiary of Toshiba. Mitsubishi has an alliance with L&T for the manufacture of turbines and boilers, while Toshiba has evinced interest in making turbines in India.

GLOBAL NEWS

(AP)

BIOFUELS
Food For Thought

New Delhi is promoting non-food biofuels in its yet-to-be ratified biofuel policy (read ‘Blowing The Lid Off’, BW, 11 July 2008) as a way to reduce diesel consumption by 20 per cent by 2011. But the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University (TNAU) is heading in a different direction. It has signed an agreement with the Western Australian Agriculture Authority to produce high-yield varieties of drumstick, a quintessential ingredient in south Indian dishes such as sambar, which TNAU wants to use for producing biofuels.

In India, close to 38,000 hectares of agricultural land are dedicated to cultivating drumsticks, and total production of the vegetable is 1.2 million tonnes every year.

While New Delhi has identified wasteland where jatropha could be grown for use in biofuels, it has not done the same for drumstick, leading to concerns that the popular crop could be diverted from neighbourhood markets towards biofuel factories.

K. Muthukumar

PHARMACEUTICALS
Foreign Hand

BEHIND THE MASK: DCGI may not find it easy to inspect plants in China (Bloomberg)

However, DCGI might find it a bit tough, especially in countries such as China, which is unlikely to let a foreign regulator in its plants. Confronted with increasing competition and pricing pressure in the global generics market, Indian firms source up to 30 per cent of raw materials from China, which is more cost competitive for commoditised products. Ironically, DCGI doesn’t monitor all pharma plants in India.

Noemie Bisserbe

GLOBAL MEDIA
NYT Snubs McCain

(Bloomberg)

ECONOMY
A Problem Of Plenty

(Pic by Tribhuwan Sharma)

Also, several bankers have reported severe shortages in Rs 1,000 notes, and attributed the scarcity to the intensified political activity and the consequent increased expenses.

Puja Mehra

AGRICULTURE
Offshore Solutions

Countries are waking up to the idea of leasing land abroad for farming

GREEN TRACTS: Many countries are eyeing the vast farmlands in Africa (Bloomberg)

Lester Brown, founder of the Earth Policy Institute, says Libya has leased land in Ukraine to grow wheat and ship it back to its hungry population. Egypt and Saudi Arabia are said to be eyeing the farmlands of Pakistan and Sudan.

The concern is that food exporting nations such as Thailand, Vietnam and the US may choose to hoard food grains instead of selling them, given the growing global food shortage.

Although the world is not quite on the brink of starvation, almost all countries are doing everything they can to ensure food security for their people. The land lease solution may seem innovative but it could open up a whole new can of regulatory worms.

Regulations governing agriculture are diverse, complex and localised. There is a need for international coordination with regard to agricultural techniques and inputs such as seeds, feritilisers, pesticides and soil that countries deploy in their newly-acquired land. Still, most experts applaud the move, as it helps even out the world’s current imbalance between population and land distribution.

Sumati Nagrath

PHARMACEUTICALS
Needed: A Strong Dose

The plan to buylife-saving drugs in bulk is doomed to fail

BIG PAIN: Healthcare delivery in India is fragmented with too many private hospitals (Bloomberg)

But it is both impractical and improbable in the current fragment healthcare environment. Hundreds of private hospitals operate in the country, and it would be a logistical nightmare to attempt to cater to the whole lot of them.

Granted that a smaller universe would be prescribing patented new life-saving drugs for diseases such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, or sepsis — typically low-volume, high-value products — but usage will vary from one institution to another, and from time to time. Unless the government is able to behave like a large efficient stockist and ensure unhindered and reliable supply, it should stay away.

It is also noteworthy that patented drugs will account for all of 10 per cent of the market in value terms by 2015, according to a McKinsey estimate (even this number, some say, is optimistic). What will the state do about the rest? The government’s track record is not encouraging given the shortage of medicines in the public distribution system, which caters to those living below the poverty line, with some exceptions.

Perhaps, if it is commitment to affordable medicines that the government wants to demonstrate, straightening this basic level of distribution out would be a good place to start.

Gauri Kamath

COPYRIGHTS
Paul’s Royalty

Extended copyrights could keep classics out of public domain

WON’T LET GO: Paul McCartney is among those who favour the EC’s move (AP)

The EC’s proposal comes just months before Cliff Richard’s first hits are due to come out of copyright. The recording companies and recording artists are pressurising policymakers to accept the new regulations, in the absence of which other works, such as the Beatles’ catalogue (which will come out of copyright starting 2013), will soon enter the public domain. The people pushing it more are singer Paul McCartney, his partner lyricist John Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono, and Roger Daltrey of the rock band The Who, who argue that the failure to extend the copyright period will lead to loss of income. But that would go against the real purpose of art and science — public consumption — as opposed to only the creator’s monetary benefit.

Sumati Nagrath

MOBILE BANK
Hold On, Please

Cellular operators who have rolled out grand packages to offer money transfer through mobile may have gone a bit too fast. Banking regulator Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked banks to put their mobile payment services on hold till an “explicit approval”. RBI has already issued draft norms for mobile payment services and is in the process of finalising the guidelines.

(Businessworld Issue 29 July-4 Aug 2008)