New Delhi: Learning from its part mistakes and experiences, the Government has begun to address the challenges faced by the Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects through optimal policy formulations and designing suitable organisational structures.

Under the new structural changes undertaken by the government of the day, developing pilot PPPs which can be scaled up in various sectors such as waste to energy, health and education are now being promoted. The need of the hour is that PPP projects be weighed on the basis of innovation and sustainability to foster competition, thereby bringing efficiency.  This was the view of the experts at the CUTS-CIRC 5^th Biennial Conference on Competition, Regulation and Development organised with CUTS Institute for Regulation and Competition under the theme “Fostering Innovation for Sustainable Development: Revisiting Intellectual Property Rights, Competition from the lens of Optimal Regulation’’.

The experts including the former Planning Commission member, Arum Maira and former Finance Secretary and Chairman, CUTS Institute for Regulation and Competition (CIRC), Dr. Arvind Mayaram deliberated at length with international delegates on the challenges faced by PPP projects.  This included dearth of organisational capacity in States to handle PPP projects, poor policy and design loopholes. Despite such hurdles, PPPs are gaining momentum in India in terms of quantum of investments and number of projects, through innovations in technology, project structures and financing options, such as municipal bonds.

Experts talked about the need of PPP in developing countries, especially in India. Paucity of funds, and the inability of States to borrow more from financial institutions has prompted the Government to look aggressively towards private finance through innovative community sensitive PPP structures. The idea being to not only create physical assets, but also to improve service level delivery through design innovation.

Similarly, experts at another session at the conference debated about the interface between competition and IPR and the need to strike the right balance among these two sets of seemingly conflicting policies at various levels. Developing countries should consider their levels of development as well as priorities while building their IP protection regime, at the same time using competition policy as a complementary instrument to promote and protect public interests. This should then be translated into appropriate policy formulation, implementation and enforcement to promote both innovation and consumer welfare, it was felt.

The need for considering the merits of government interventions and regulations, for adapting and modernising existing regulations, and for building the institutional capacities of regulators were also brought forward.

This is in response to the rapid changes of the markets and the emergence of new business models such as multisided platforms, fintech, and other disruptive technologies, as evidenced in sectors such as ICT, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, transport and e-commerce. Devising an optimal regulatory framework would bring clarity and certainty to stakeholders, promote investment and trade while also ensuring consumer interests are protected and promoted., the key speakers felt.

The conference also highlighted the growing policy uncertainty, need of data for effective policy formulation, its impacts and the need for improved mechanisms to redesign the existing regulations. The challenges due to lack of organisational capacities to tackle policy and regulatory uncertainty were also emphasised by the speakers.

They deliberated upon the need of relevant quality data in research, how disruptions are making the past data redundant, and the importance of more dialogue between the policy makers and researchers. It was emphasised that policy uncertainty deters investment and good policies outlive governments. The importance of greater interaction between researchers, policy makers, users and civil society in better policy making was stressed upon.

NEW DELHI : As Indian consumer continues to struggle with the quality of internet services and access across the country and an estimated 900 million are still without internet access the Government on Monday will launch the second and final phase of its flagship BharatNet project aimed at providing high speed broadband internet connectivity to all panchayats in rural India by March 2019.

The project aims to connect 1.5 lakh panchayats through 10 lakh Km of additional optical fibre and give bandwidth to telecom players at nearly 75 percent cheaper price for broadband and wi fi services in rural areas.

Interestingly, as India boasts of world’s top IT companies, tech entrepreneurs and digital startups, yet internet access to its people has been a dream. India is still home to nearly 900 million people who do not have access to the internet. In 2015, only 22% of adults in India had access to the Internet, according to the Pew Research Centre. Similarly, urban India with an estimated population of 444 million already has 269 million (60%) using the internet. Rural India, with an estimated population of 906 million as per 2011 census, has only 163 million (17%) internet users. It is precisely this chunk of the population that the Modi Government is planning to reach out to through its BharatNet scheme.

India was ranked 89th globally in connection speeds with an average speed of 6.5Mbps, marking an 87 per cent year-on-year change. In addition, a 4Mbps broadband adoption of 42 percent in the first quarter of 2017 with an 81 per cent year-on-year increase was also noted. The global average connection speed was 7.2Mbps this quarter, with peak connections across the world averaging at 44.6Mbps. This was stated in a report released by Akamai Technologies, the world’s largest cloud delivery platform recently.

The Government has sought the help of the leading telecom companies for this flagship programme and has made a provision of Rs. 3,600 crore subsidy for private telcos such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Idea Cellular and Reliance Jio through viability gap funding. This would be used for setting up Wi-Fi in rural areas as part of the second phase of the BharatNet project. 

The government is all set to complete the first phase of the BharatNet project by the end of 2017 – which will give fibre connectivity to 1 lakh gram panchayats at an investment of Rs. 11,200 crore. “We expect telecom operators to provide at least 2 megabit per second speed to rural households,” Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan stated.

The Union Communications Minister, Manoj Sinha, Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Human Resource Development Minister, Prakash Javadekar launched the project today.

The Telecom Ministry will sign agreements with seven states — Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand — which will roll out the project on their own with partial funding from the Central Government.

The total project cost of BharatNet is around Rs. 45,000 crore, of which Rs. 11,200 crore have been used for the first phase.

Ms. Sundrarajan said around Rs. 4.5 lakh crore value can be added to the national gross domestic product on completion of BharatNet phase 2 as a study has suggested that every 10 percent usage of Internet in India drives up GDP by 3.3 percent.

BSNL will roll out optical fibre in yet to be covered locations of eight states — Assam, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir and Sikkim that were not covered under the first phase of BharatNet. Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) has been awarded contract for three states — Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Odisha.

It is understood that the broadband services rates will be low because of intensive competition in the sector and the government is offering bandwidth under the project to telecom operators at 75 percent lower rate than they currently buy it. “India at present has 38,000 wifi hotspots. 

Under BharatNet phase 2, around 6-7 lakh wifi hotspots will be added with 2-5 hot spots in each panchayat. Some of the wifi hot spots may not be commercially viable initially. The viability gap funding of around Rs. 3,600 crore to telecom operators will be provided by the government,’’ she added.

Mortal remains of two Indian soldiers of 39 Garhwal Rifles were laid to rest at Military Cemetery at Laventie, France. A delegation comprising of Commandant and Subedar Major of the Garhwal Rifles Regimental Centre, two bagpipers from the Garhwal Rifles Regimental Pipe Band and Colonel Nitin Negi, grandson of late Naik Darwan Singh Negi, Victoria Cross, attended the ceremony.

On the occasion, homage was also paid to the soldiers of Indian Meerut Division at Nueve Chapelle War Memorial by laying wreaths on behalf of the Chief of the Army Staff, Indian Army by Brigadier Indrajit Chatterjee, Commandant and Subedar Major Trilok Singh Negi, SM of the Garhwal Rifles Regimental Centre. The Commandant expressed his gratitude to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission for the excellent care and maintenance of the War Memorial dedicated to Indian soldiers in France and Flanders. He also thanked the Government of France for the conduct of the solemn ceremony.

On 20^th September 2016, during an excavation work on southern side of the village of Richebourg near Laventie Military Cemetery, approximately 230 Kms away from Paris, two human remains were found and identified to be of soldiers of 39^th Royal Garhwal Rifles. The office of Commonwealth War Graves Commission in consultation with the French Government and Indian Embassy in France decided to hold ceremony to rest them along with their comrades at Laventie Military Cemetery, with full military honours during the annual memorial service that is held to commemorate the Indian soldiers who were martyred in action in France and Belgium. In a symbolic gesture, the soil from the graves of these soldiers will be brought back to their homeland.

During World War-I, the Garhwal Brigade comprising of 1^st/39^th and 2^nd/39^th Royal Garhwal showed unparalleled bravery in treacherous trenches of France and Flanders. Fighting shoulder to shoulder with British soldiers, the Garhwal Brigade earned six Battle Honours and two Victoria Cross in France and Flanders Theatre.

t by the Kauffman Foundation analyzed its venture-capital portfolio and concluded that 62 out of 100 funds failed to exceed the returns offered by the public market.

Most venture-capital firms don’t head abroad with the sole aim of searching for copycats, however a lot of their investments end up that way.

Introducing Clone Models to new Markets

After all, backing tested concepts mitigates the risks in new businesses and means organizations are probably going to grow quickly, because the original company has worked out all the bends. Often the originator of the business does not have the expertise to enter new developing markets so fast, so copycats can get there first.

They can likewise gain an edge by tailoring organizations to local habits. Flipkart, an e-commerce website in India founded by two former Amazon employees, had raised funds from Tiger Global, a New York-based hedge fund that has some expertise in this sort of investing, and Accel Partners, a venture-capital firm. Honestly, the idea worked because around then individuals scarcely used credit cards in India and to make it mainstream they needed to present something like cash on delivery.

There are diverse approaches to play the copycat game. Rocket Internet, started by the Samwer brothers—Alexander, Marc and Oliver—in Germany, is a cloning factory that copies American and European organizations, hiring entrepreneurs to run them and exporting these new companies to emerging markets as fast as possible so they are the first entrants. More traditional venture capitalists are setting up offices and specifically backing local entrepreneurs. American venture capitalists often like to acquire a local partner to give more reliable mentorship to these entrepreneurs and give exhortation on the best way to navigate the domestic market.

How long can they ignore the competition?

Copycats can without much of a stretch lose share when the original company enters the local market. Snapdeal and Flipkart, once the Amazon of India, got “pummeled” when Amazon entered the market. With innovation, you have a global benefit, but with copycat innovation you have geographical limits.

It’ll not be long before emerging markets spawn their own innovations that can be trotted out on a global scale. That would be closer to the spirit of venture capital, which is supposed to ferret out and fund new ideas, not imitations.

(Views are personal. The writer is Gurgaon-based Digital Marketer and an aspiring entrepreneur. https://www.linkedin.com/in/gauravsangwani/)

Aligarh : Soil bacteria, Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt, became famous for its connection with genetically modified crops like Bt cotton and Bt brinjal. But it has its use in agriculture beyond GM crops. A group of Indian scientists have found new strains of Bt which they say can be used to develop biopesticides in future.

Researchers from Aligarh Muslim University and New Delhi-based National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology have identified new strains of Bt from soil samples collected in Northwestern Himalayas. 

Bt is an important soil organism which produces protein crystals toxic to many insects. These proteins become active in the gut of pests under alkaline conditions and form pores in their cell lining. Subsequently, insects lose their cellular constituents, stop feeding and ultimately die. GM crops exploit these traits by incorporating such bacterial genes. However, over a period of time pests become resistant to toxic genes. Crystal proteins of Bt can be added directly to soil instead of chemical pesticides, but in this case too their prolonged use may allow pest to develop resistance. 

Therefore, scientists are on a lookout for different strains of bacteria that contain unique insecticidal genes. In their search for a novel strain of Bt, researchers focused on Northwestern Himalayas. They gathered 207 soil samples from ten different locations and cultured the bacteria in lab. The crystal proteins produced were then tested for toxicity against cotton bollworm.

Two proteins – Cry and Cyt- have the strongest insecticidal action against this moth. So, scientists checked bacterial DNA for the presence of seven different classes of Cry genes and two classes of Cyt genes. Almost two-thirds of the Bt strains tested positive for either gene. Researchers then isolated bacterial proteins and fed them to the cotton bollworm larva. Eating leaves coated with these proteins stopped larval feeding in 30% of cases. Scientists noticed that strains most successful in this endeavour expressed both Cry and Cyt genes.

Based on these results, four potential strains that can be used to develop broad range biopesticides have been identified. One that particularly stands out is Bacillus thuringiensis JK 12 which is required in the least quantity to stop larval feeding.“In future, all these four potentially toxic strains shall be tested against other lepidopteran pests and we will determine their applicability as broad-host-range biopesticides”, Showkat Ahmad Lone, the lead author of the study, told India Science Wire. 

However, Dr. Raj K Bhatnagar, Professor Emeritus at International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, who is not connected with the study, pointed out that such studies fall short on characterising the gene or the protein. “In the present study, there is no comparison of toxicity with known strains,” he added.

Because these proteins are non-toxic to humans and do not affect soil productivity they offer several advantages over conventional pesticides, Dr Bhatnaghar felt.

The research team included Showkat Ahmad Lone (Aligarh Muslim University), Abdul Malik (Aligarh Muslim University) and Jasdeep Chatrath Padaria (National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology). The study has been published recently in journal Biotechnology Reports. 

Directed: Abrar Alvi/ Produced; Guru Dutt/Story: Bimal Mitra/Screenplay: Bimal Mitra and Abrar Alvi/ Cinematography: VK Murthy/ Editing: YG Chawhan/ Lyrics: Shakeel Badayuni/ Music: Hemanta Mukherjee/ Playback: Asha Bhosle, Geeta Dutt and Hemanta Mukherjee/ Art Direction: Biren Naug/ Costumes: Bhanu Athaiya/ Starring: Meena Kumari, Guru Dutt, Waheeda Rehman, Rehman, Dhoomal, Minoo Mumtaz, Sapru, Jawahar Kaul, Nazir Hussain, Harindranath Chattopadhyay and Pratima Devi

In his short life span of 39 years, Guru Dutt wrote four films, produced seven and directed another eight. A luke warm success at the box-office, Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, an adaptation of Bengali author Bimal Mitra’s tale is considered to have been directed by Guru Dutt’s protégé and best friend, screenwriter Abrar Alvi. Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam is still regarded as one of Guru Dutt’s and Bollywood’s most artistic films. An enduring saga of decaying feudalism with a parallel sub plot of the downward-spiral of a zamindar’s neglected wife, loaded with unforgettable performances, lilting music, Bhanu Athaiya’s costumes, Biren Naug’s Art Direction and VK Murthy’s cinematography have made this film an unforgettable gem.

The controversy about who actually helmed Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam remains alive to this day. Guru Dutt never discounted Abrar Alvi’s role in the film and it was Alvi who won the Filmfare Award for Best Director for the film. Abrar Alvi never denied that Guru Dutt did direct the songs in the film, but not the entire film. The film’s editor Y.G. Chawan always maintained that it was Abrar Alvi who sat with him during editing.

According to Waheeda Rehman Guru Dutt wanted bulk dates from Shashi Kapoor as Bhootnath because a huge set had been erected and he had acquired Meena Kumari’s dates. Shashi Kapoor, a rising busy star in those dayscouldn’t spare the required dates. The next choice Biswajeet whose Hindi film debut it would have been didn’t want to be tied to an exclusive contract. Guru Dutt donned the mantle himself . 

Nargis and then legendary celebrity portraiture and glamour photographer Jitendra Arya’s wife Chhaya were considered for the role of Chhoti Bahu. Waheeda Rehman wanted to play Bibi and was refused by Guru Dutt because she didn’t look mature enough. She backed down only after she did a photo-session with V.K.Murthy and Guru Dutt in Chhoti Bahu’s attire and saw the result for herself. 

However when the director on board Abrar Alvi asked Waheeda Rehman to play Jaba, Guru Dutt was livid upon her assent! This time he felt she had become a big star to take on a secondary character that was not even mentioned in the titles like Rehman, Meena Kumari and Guru Dutt himself. 

Waheeda Rehman did not share a single frame with Meena Kumari in the film and her consistent pleading to Abrar Alvi and Guru Dutt to incorporate one scene was denied citing the fact that the novel did not have such a scene. Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam was Waheeda Rehman’s last film with Guru Dutt an enviable collaboration which included Pyaasa, Kagaz Ke Phool and Chaudhvi Ka Chand. 

Meena Kumari portrayal of Chhoti Bahu is perhaps one of the greatest performance ever seen on the Indian Screen. Meena Kumari to Guru Dutt’s request if she would be interested in playing the lead role of Chhoti Bahu turned it down as she had her hands full with pending commitments. Guru Dutt extremely desperate completed the entire film by 1962 leaving aside the role of Chhoti Bahu. 

Meena Kumari settled for forty-five days of non-stop shooting and a fee with 25 per cent raise , writes veteran journalist late Vinod Mehta in Meena Kumari: The Classic Biography. Meena Kumari won the Filmfare Best Actress award in 1963 for her performance as Chhoti Bahu. That year, she was the only actress up for Best Actress with two other nominations apart from Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam – Aarti and Main Chup Rahungi.

Guru Dutt had also wanted SD Burman and Sahir Ludhianvi for the music and lyrics but SD Burman was unwell and Sahir declined the offer. In walked Hemant Kumar and Shakeel Badayuni on their second project after the mega hit Bees Saal Baad released earler that very year. Hemant Kumar’s baton had Geeta Dutt rendering – Koi door se awaaz de chale aao, Piya aiso jiya and Na jao saiyan for Chhoti Bahu. His melancholic background music and that behind Chhoti Bahu evoked looming tragedy. 

Geeta Dutt didn’t playback for Waheeda in this film although in Pyaasa she sang for both Mala and Waheeda. Guru Dutt had Asha Bhosle’s voice for Waheeda and Geeta sang for Meena Kumari. Amazingly Waheeda Rehman was was not happy with the rushes of the song Bhanwara bada naadan hai and had Guru Dutt reshot the song, it was only this ditty from the film which went up to number thirteen on the annual list of Binaca Geetmala in 1962.

A rebel like Guru Dutt could not ignore irate reactions of the audience to the original last scene which showed Chhoti Bahu resting her head in Bhootnath’s lap as they travel in a carriage. The scene was reshot to show a conversation between the two characters. Alvi and Guru Dutt removed the song Sahil ki Taraf and replaced it with dialogue exchange between Chhoti Bahu and Bhoothnath in the doomed carriage. An additional scene with paralyzed Rehman repenting his debauchery was also shot but never used. Hemant Kumar went on to recycle the tune for Sahil ki Taraf for the song Ya dil ki suno from Anupama (1966).

Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam went on to win Filmfare Awards for Best Film, Director, Actress and Photography. Hemant Kumar against all odds lost Filmfare for Best Music to Shankar-Jaikishen for Professor (1962). The film won the President’s Silver Medal and the ‘Film of the Year’ Award from the Bengal Film Journalist Association and was screened at the Berlin Film Festival in June 1963 and was India’s fourth official entry to the Oscars that year and was nominated for the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.

The depiction of old age zamindari finally collapsing under the weight of British colonialism and the opulent and decadent lifestyle of the havelis form the majestic backdrop against which the most interesting aspect of the film is presented to the viewers, the ambiguity that shrouds the relationship between Chhoti Bahu and Bhoothnath is mesmerising. The moot question hammering at the back of minds and which keeps us riveted to the screen is whether the Ghulam physically desires Chhoti Bahu and whether she considers him more than an attendant? 

The chemistry between the Bibi and Ghulam is so crackling that you forget that Meena Kumari appears on screen after nearly 45 minutes of the film is over and that Guru Dutt and Meena Kumari had only eight scenes together! This is the celluloid magic of Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam from which even younger masters like Anurag Kashyap and Tigmanshu Dhulia have drawn from!

(The writer is a Filmy Buff)

The hill state of Himachal Pradesh witnessed an all time high of more than 74 per cent in the single phase polling on Thursday. It is indicative of either a strong anti- incumbency against chief minister Virbhadra Singh or that the 83-year-old Congress war horse is not giving up electoral politics without putting up a stiff last fight. 
Having been the chief minister for no less than six terms, he appears to have managed the campaign well despite the Congress organisation being in disarray as evidenced in other parts of the country. 
Having been nominated as the Congress chief minister in case the party won the assembly elections, BJP chief Amit Shah wasted no time in zeroing in on two time chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal as the lotus party’s numero uno in HP. 
Dhumal’s popularity in the state is not in doubt. He is  73-years-old even though Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s diktat is that a politician should hang up his boots on attaining the age of 75. Will that apply to Dhumal or will he be the exception in case the Lotus party regains power in Shimla. 
Politicians in HP will have to be patient and wait for nearly seven weeks for the counting of votes on December 18 after the two phase elections in Gujarat on December 9 and 14. 
Five years back in the 2012 assembly elections, the Congress had won 36 seats and the BJP 26 with five independents and a lone seat going to the Himachal Lokhit party. 
It is widely believed the poll outcome in Kangra and Mandi regions will decide which party comes to power in HP. Being the largest district with 15 assembly seats, the Congress is putting up a tough fight amid the rebellion in the BJP. 
In the last assembly elections the Congress had won ten of the 15 seats in Kangra. Prior to that the BJP had won nine seats from this region and formed the government. Kangra has been the borough of BJP veteran Shanta Kumar. 
There are enough BJP rebels in the fray though some of them were summoned to the national capital by the BJP brass to try and pacify them. 
The Congress appears to have an edge in Kangra. At the same time it is in a tough spot in Mandi having ten assembly segments. This district is a stronghold of former Congress leader Sukh Ram who along with his son Anil Sharma, who was a member of the Virbhadra Singh cabinet, has joined the BJP. 
What has queered the pitch for the Congress is the presence of  rebel candidates. In HP politics the two party system of the Congress and BJP has prevailed. The people have traditionally alternated between the Lotus party and the Congress. 
Attempts at forming a Third Front failed to meet the expectations of the people. The Left parties — CPI and CPI (M) — enjoy a base in a few pockets in HP but have failed to make their mark in state politics. 
A combination of these factors has compelled the Aam Aadmi party to steer clear of contesting assembly elections in HP. It is, however, going to be in the fray in the assembly elections in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Miniter Narendra Modi. 
Congress is on the backfoot because of the disproportionate assets case against Virbhadra Singh. Then, the Gudiya rape and murder case is also likely to affect the Congress adversely. The sentiments of women and young voters are against the Congress in the wake of the botched up investigation by the police and the High Court directing the Central Bureau of Investigation to take up the case. For continuity of dynastic rule in HP, Virbhadra Singh has given up his rural seat in Shima to his son Vikramaditya Singh who is facing a tough challenge. On the other hand Hamirpur is the stronghold of Dhumal. His son Anurag Thakur is a third time MP from this district. 
The BJP should cruise to a comfortable win in this district. What cannot be lost sight of is that no government has succeeded in retaining power for two consecutive terms in HP. Overall, the BJP appears headed in regaining power in the hill state even as the polls have predicted a runaway victory for the saffron brigade.  
(T R Ramachandran is a senior journalist and commentator. Views are personal.) 

Researchers from the Department of Biotechnology at the Indian Institute of Technology -Roorkee claim to have developed a path-breaking technique that would reverse drug resistance and enable the existing antibiotics to effectively kill the bacteria. 

Drug resistant bacteria use a system called `efflux pumps’ that act as tiny motors to expel out the antibiotic from the cellular interior, thereby preventing the drug from reaching its target and helping the bacteria to survive even in the presence of antibiotic. The team, led by Dr. Ranjana Pathania, claim to have discovered a novel molecule which inhibits the efflux of antibiotics leading to effective build-up of antibiotic inside the cell and subsequent cell death. The molecule discovered by the team has been named Â‘IITR08027’ and it disrupts the proton gradient that is responsible for energizing the pumps.  The team has shown that the molecule when used in combination with fluoroquinolones allows the antibiotic to kill the bacterial cells, thereby effectively tackling the antibiotic resistance problem.

According to an estimate, about 1,900 people die every day due to antibiotic resistant infections, which amounts to about 70,000 deaths per year.

The study published in International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents found the molecule developed to be effective against multi-drug resistant clinical strains of Acinetobacter baumannii, one of the most prevalent pathogens, which have developed strategies to counter the existing antibiotics especially fluoroquinolones.

Elaborating about her research, Dr. Pathania, said“Antibiotic resistance in bacterial pathogens has been one of the major issues that plagues the health care sector today. Discovering a new antibiotic or drug, to counter the resistant bacteria will be a time taking process, due to which the team wanted to come up with a technique, which could restore the efficacy and effectiveness of the existing antibiotics and medications like ciprofloxacin or nor?oxacin.”

“Since this molecule rejuvenates the activity of fluoroquinolones against resistant bacterial pathogens, its clinical use of could be a medically as well as an economically beneficial move. Moreover, this molecule has a very low cell toxicity which makes it an ideal candidate to enter pre-clinical trial phase for toxicity and efficacy in animal models,’’ added Dr. Pathania.

According to the team, this general mode of action of IITR08027 and the inhibition technique of efflux can be used against other bacteria which express efflux pumps and adopt a similar mechanism of expelling antibiotics from the cell.

Sikkim State Co-operative Supply and Marketing Federation Ltd (SIMFED), the apex marketing federation of Sikkim, launched a vast range of organic and natural food products in the Capital.

Sikkim was declared as the first Organic State of India by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015. The organic food products were launched by SIMFED in collaboration with Qseal Agritech Pvt Ltd., an organic agriculture-based organization.

One of the pioneering organizations in India in the field of organic farming, SIMFED in the last 10 years has worked with more than 40,000 farmers on almost 35,000 hectares of agricultural land in 10 States across India.  To provide best prices to the farmers, SIMFED has taken many successful measures such as the elimination of middlemen and easy processing. And to enhance the reach and penetration of organic food, SIMFED strictly complies with the latest quality standards that ensure highly safe and nutritious food.

The vast range of SIMFED’S organic food products includes unpolished rice, organic flours, organic cereals, unpolished pulses, spices(whole and powdered). These will be introduced in the market soon in 500 grams and 1 kg packages. Organic pickles, jams and bakery products will also be launched shortly.

The specialty products from Sikkim include organically grown buck wheat flour, dale chilli (cherry pepper), large cardamom a high value cash crop and export commodity and ginger and turmeric (two powerful spices from the Himalayan ranges). The other specialty products that will available soon are cashew from Andhra and Odisha, king chilli from Assam, mango from Andhra, pineapple from North East region, joha and black rice from Assam, kodo and lemon from Chhattisgarh and Assam, potato from Gujarat, and mandarin orange from Assam.

In the near future, SIMFED is also planning to export various organic produce like niger, ginger, turmeric, black pepper and potato from different regions of the country.

 SIMFED’S organic food products were launched in the presence of Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister, Mr Radha Mohan Singh, Sikkim Chief Minister Mr Pawan Chamling, and Mr Somnath Poudyal, Food Safety and Agriculture Minister of Sikkim.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Roger R. Rai, M.D., SIMFED said, “At SIMFED, we work for the benefit of both the consumers and the producers. We ensure that the farmer, who is the intrinsic part of our society is getting the best possible agricultural inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, equipment, and is able to get the best possible amount for his/her agricultural produce. Being an ethical and responsible committee, we are cautious that none of the quality measures formulated by the government are compromised or ignored, and the very best of the agricultural produce is reaching to the general public.”

Jaipur: Stating that innovation is the central theme to long run performance of any economy, experts at the conference on “Fostering Innovation for Sustainable Development” pointed the need to strengthen the foundation of the innovation eco-system in the developing world with an objective of achieving sustainable development.

Delegates attending the CUTS-CIRC 5th Biennial Conference on Competition, Regulation and Development here, felt that drivers of an innovation-based eco-system are disrupting traditional market transactions across almost all sectors. These developments are posing challenges for the regulators to catch pace with growing changes in the market dynamics. The experts have gathered here to discuss the role of regulation and competition in creating appropriate incentives for fostering innovation for sustainable development.

In his keynote address at the three-day conference Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Suresh  Prabhu emphasised on the importance of new ideas on trade, competition, regulation and development. Praising the role of CUTS in this regard, he said it was an important conference which could deliberate on the necessity of an optimal regulatory regime that could preserve incentives for innovation.

Delivering his welcome remarks, CUTS Secretary General, Pradeep Mehta pointed out that the idea for biennial series was conceived to highlight and discuss steps to address regulatory failures and weak institutional capacities in emerging economies. The first conference was organised in Delhi in march 2007 and the last was organised in December 2015 in Nairobi, Kenya.

He said the sectors chosen for the theme “Revisiting IPR and Competition” include Information and Communication Technology, Pharmaceuticals and Agriculture. Similarly, focussed topics chosen for the theme on disruptive technologies and optimal regulation include Digital Payments and Multi-Sided Platforms (Transport and e-commerce).  

Mr. Mehta said innovation, competition and IPR are intrinsically related to each other. Robust competition ensure that present competitors and upcoming market entrants constantly innovate to attain better returns from production differentiation. Absence of adequate IPR protection could discourage firms to invest in research and development and may negatively impact their incentive to innovate.

Former President, Federal Competition Commission, Mexico, Eduardo Perez Motta, Deputy Secretary General, UNCTAD, Isabelle Durant, and Former Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium and Nitin Desai, former Under Secretary General, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations.

Speaking on the merits of innovation based eco-system, Eduardo Motta highlighted the benefits of innovation and emphasised that it has the potential to have positive social impact. He said there is overlap between intellectual property and competition but stated that awareness on importance of intellectual property rights which do not harm competition is needed. However, an important issue to ponder over was how competition authorities would deal with the data markets. These and other issues need to be discussed at international forums such as UNCTAD, OECD and ICN, he added.

Isabell Durant agreed with his views and mentioned that new digital technologies have created immense benefits for consumers. However, without optimal governance and regulation, dealing with such issues can be challenging, as they deal with topics like data protection and privacy. The developing countries have to deal with additional constraints such as lack of capacity, access to finance, weak infrastructure, poor research and development and ineffective policy frameworks.   

Mr. Desai highlighted that there is lack of evidence on impact of intellectual property on productivity growth and spending on research and development. The number of patents does not constitute a measure of innovation. Big breakthroughs in development have come through competition and not through intellectual property and patent protection is becoming an instrument for corporate warfare. In view of this, the system is constraining innovation and not promoting the same and there is a need to modify the rigorous intellectual property regime.