http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/archive/8531 en_GB http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/147351/1/8531 The new free trade agreements being signed up between rich and poor countries are proving far more damaging to the poor than anything envisaged within WTO talks, Oxfam said in a report http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/146550/1/8531 Human history is rich in impassioned but strange advocacies in the name of the poor. Here’s one example. An anti-cancer drug patented and marketed by an MNC costs around $ 2600 per patient per month. The generic version manufactured in India costs around $ 200 per patient per month. The generic version is cheaper.Does it makes difference to India's poor whether the patented or the generic version is in the market.Saubhik Chakrabarti express this view in an interview. http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/146512/1/8531 Novartis AG had filed a batch of petitions challenging the order of rejection of its patent application for beta crystalline form of imatinib mesylate and section 3 (d) of the Act as amended by the Patents (Amendment) Act. Additional Solicitor-General, V.T. Gopalan,told the Madras High Court the amended Section 3 (d) of the Patents Act and the explanation were valid. http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/146511/1/8531 The Left parties and experts demanded the scrapping of the Mashelkar committee report on patents, and asked the Government to reject any proposal from its members to rewrite the "plagiarised" and "pro-multinational corporation" paper. http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/145641/1/8531 The United States has asked Bangladesh to re-examine the possibility of restarting negotiations on the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) between the two countries. http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/145562/1/8531 Developing countries led by Indonesia, India, and China issued a strong message to the World Economic Forum under way here that they will not allow attempts to dilute the agricultural negotiations in the Doha Round of trade talks by certain industrialised countries, especially the United States. http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/143117/1/8531 Trade between India and Pakistan can increase to a phenomenal level of 6.6 billion dollars if barriers are removed and the neighbouring country implements the South Asia Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement, an ICRIER report has said. http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/137391/1/8531 Civil society activists, who early on foretold the inevitable collapse of the Doha Round, are now predicting the beginning of the end for the World Trade Organisation (WTO) itself, which sponsored the failed negotiations. http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/136946/1/8531 Even as the global trade talks collapsed in Geneva, India has blamed developed countries for not making substantial cuts in trade-distorting farm subsidies. The Doha development round of the World Trade Organisation now looks set to be suspended for the next few months. http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/135904/1/8531 As trade liberalisation negotiations head into the make-or-break stage, the World Trade Organisation has stepped up pressure to establish concrete numbers for concessions -- a none-too-small task given criticisms against the industrialised North's "self interest", and growing divisions among developing countries. http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/134602/1/8531 Rich countries led by the United States have cheated the developing countries under the garb of the Doha Development Round of WTO.This was stated by head of the trade justice campaign, Actionaid Pakistan, Mustafa Talpur at a press conference. http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/133205/1/8531 The adverse effects of unfair rules of global trade have made it imperative for national governments to have enough sovereign rights for policy formulations to deal with the situation. It is unfortunate that this policy space of national governments is gradually shrinking, with unfair trade rules in vogue. http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/131281/1/8531 Developing countries - India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - will lower customs duty by 40 per cent in 2006 for the products originating from the least developed countries -? Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and the Maldives - under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/131086/1/8531 The World Trade Organisation (WTO) report on trends in trade in 2005 and prospects in 2006 highlights the weak spots in terms of economic growth. According to WTO economists, growth in global trade has, in the past decade, been consistently double the growth in the global economy. http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/130284/1/8531 The launch of the Doha Round in November 2001 was a milestone in itself, as a large number of developing countries were initially not in favour of a new round. They felt that the Uruguay Round had been unfair to them, and wanted their grievances to be addressed before a new round was launched.