Selling out

The editorial in the latest issue of Organiser is on the sale of Ranbaxy to Japanese major. The editorial, titled 8220;Indian MNCs...

The editorial in the latest issue of Organiser is on the sale of Ranbaxy to Japanese major. The editorial, titled 8220;Indian MNCs or MNCs in India8221;, says 8220;The sale of Ranbaxy to the Japanese Daiichi last week disturbed many Indians. Ranbaxy is not just one of the Indian companies. It is a pioneer in its field. And it withstood global pressure in a highly competitive field8230; The Ranbaxy deal has made the Japanese more competitive in the global market because of the former8217;s expertise in low-cost medicines. And Ranbaxy has a huge share in Latin American, Eastern European and African markets where the Japanese company has not much of a presence8230; The biggest challenge here for India is that other Indian pharma companies will also be forced to give up and sell out. This will push drug prices to unaffordable heights. There is a feeling that the foreign companies are not interested in selling their medicines cheap. They are not very innovative and are highly bureaucratic and it is their financial muscle that makes them unbeatable8230;8221;

The editor concludes, 8220;Ranbaxy was often cited as the market leader who is an example of withstanding patent restraints. A swadeshi role model. They handled global pressure effectively and overcame the intellectual property regime rather coolly. That story is now a thing of the past. Yes, in India the acquisition did not raise the kind of xenophobic reactions as in Europe, when their companies were taken over by foreigners. But the fact remains, Indian entrepreneur space is shrinking. We are making more CEOs, commission agents, franchisees and salesmen.8221;

Be a karmayogi

A news item titled 8220;Face life like a karmayogi8221;, quotes Deendayal Research Institute founder Nanaji Deshmukh as saying, 8220;The country is passing through a very crucial phase. Every person has to work like a karmayogi to face problems8230; We should not have the fear of death. I am 93 now, and just wish that after my death every organ of my body be utilised for the welfare of the people.8221;

The item quotes the RSS veteran after a statue of Maharana Pratap was unveiled at Imiliya Kodar village in Balrampur district of Uttar Pradesh on June 6. 8220;The eight feet high and three tonnes heavy statue was built by the artisans of Jaipur. Former Vice President of India Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat unveiled the statue. It was for the first time, that the Tharus who live in about 51 villages of the region, and call themselves followers of Maharana Pratap, felt oneness8230;8221; says the news item.

Indefensible defence policy

In an opinion piece on India8217;s security concerns, BJP parliamentary party office-bearer V. Shanmuganathan says, 8220;India wants to maintain good relations with her neighbours. But we cannot ignore the fact that our neighbouring country8217;s army personnel have made incursions into our territory8230; The world knows that Pakistan is encouraging cross border terrorism to create tension on a day-to-day basis.8221; He goes on to write, 8220;We need to develop a strong and modern armed force to protect our border. But we still have neither a clearly enunciated national security policy nor a defence policy document. There should be a comprehensive defence review based on 8216;threat perception8217;. The perspective plan should be based on an analysis likely to be reviewed in future with evaluation of options and alternatives.8221;