Independent journalist and contributor, Down To Earth. Her concerns relate to the way power structures in society - business corporations, governments and lobbies - impact the lives of the powerless.
Who is really afraid of the TRIPS agreement?
India has not shown the grit to fully use the inbuilt flexibilities in the WTO’s TRIPS pact to protect public health
Bankruptcy of ideas and innovation: What India’s recent science & tech indicators show
Indians have shown little innovation over the decades. They are content to copy successful ideas from elsewhere or …
US officials urge to override Gilead patent
Most of US state attorney generals want the government to use its march-in-rights to license remdesivir to others
Remdesivir: Predatory pricing of an unproven drug
Gilead Science’s price for the remdesivir drug reveals a faulty patents system and skewed policies of the United States
Dangers of a nationalist vaccine
In the time of COVID-19, the Indian government has shown an embarrassing readiness to cut corners by seeking to push through a vaccination by …
A promise of equitable access to all
WHO, pharma giants and governments have come together to provide access to all on COVID-19 therapies. But will WIPO allow this to happen?
A dirty US fight to control WIPO
China loses to Singapore in American smear campaign but the US will have to contend with an IP powerhouse
The great coronavirus drug hunt
A patent filed by Institute of Virology in Wuhan on cocktail of remdesivir and chloroquine raises some prickly questions
Beware of a deal with Trump
As the US president comes visiting to India there is worry about the demands he will make on intellectual property
The US takes on a drug giant
The US government's patent lawsuit against Gilead Sciences indicates it is tired of being milked by pharma companies
A Modi motto on innovation
A simplistic formulation ignores the reality of India's research environment and the constraint it faces
Cipla shows the way, again
The pioneer of inexpensive AIDS drugs made a paediatric medicine that will save thousands of children
India's withdrawal from RCEP a breather on many fronts
India's decision to pull out of RCEP means its policy on access to inexpensive drugs will not be under pressure
The problem for biosimilars
Reliance Life Sciences won a case against Roche, 4 years after the MNC sued to stave off challenge to a hit breast cancer drug
Encouraging orphan drugs in India
India needs to formulate an atrractive law to spur development of drugs for rare diseases
No end to these silly GIs
In their mad rush for Geographical Indication tags Indians are ignoring economic rationale
China’s intellectual property revolution
China saw an amazing transformation from a copycat nation, which was a byword for piracy, into a powerhouse of innovation
Risks associated with Artificial Intelligence worrying
And yet the concerns have not cast their shadow over India since AI research is still in its infancy in the country
India’s 5G fantasy: The future looks decidedly dim
The country is dithering over starting field trials while dreaming of securing patents in this revolutionary technology
WIPO’s piracy blacklist is flawed
Why is the UN body putting a stamp of approval on a system that is patently unjust and dangerous
CRISPR: A cutting-edge battle
The US has reopened the battle over CRISPR that has already seen several twists and turns in the past seven years
Why the US fears China
The trade war launched by Trump has the alleged theft of intellectual property at its core
Who cares about high drug prices?
Drug manufacturers have started charging high prices at levels unheard of earlier, but nobody is bothered
The new Patanjali of yoga
Did anyone think that Maharishi Patanjali, the giver of those priceless exercises, would become private property one day?
A strike for affordable medicines
Recently, the Delhi High Court allowed makers of generic medicines in India to export patented drugs to importing countries for regulatory approval