Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare Dr. Harsh Vardhan chaired a review meeting on preparedness for management of Novel Coronavirus with senior officers of the Ministry, here today.
Cabinet Secretary also held a high-level review meeting on the preparedness for Novel Coronavirus with Secretaries of Health, Civil Aviation, Textiles, Pharmaceutical, DHR, and Dte. General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). Cabinet Secretary has held five review meetings so far.
As of today, 52,332 passengers from 326 flights have been screened. A total of 97 symptomatic travelers picked up by the IDSP have been referred to the isolation facilities. 98 samples have been tested of which 97 have been found to be negative. The earlier positive case found in Kerala is being monitored and is stable.
In addition, Secretary (HFW) had a video conference to review the process of screening passengers from different countries. Apart from passengers coming from China and Hong Kong, passengers coming on flights from Singapore and Thailand shall also be universally screened at the airports, henceforth. Shri Pradeep Singh Kharola, Secretary (Civil Aviation), Health Secretaries from all States for the 21 airports, Airport Public Health Officers from these airports, along with representatives from the Bureau of Immigration, Customs Department were present.
The 324 incoming Indian citizens from Wuhan, China have reached today. Of these, 104 are housed at ITBP Chawla Camp and 220 are in Manesar. They are being effectively monitored.

The Indian Pharmacopoeia (IP) has been recognised formally by the National Department of Regulation of Medicines and Health Products of the Ministry of Public Health of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. It will also be used based on the requirement as reputable pharmacopoeia in the laboratory of medicines and health products quality. With this, a new beginning has been made and Afghanistan has become the first country to recognize IP pursuant to the efforts of Department of Commerce and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
IP is an officially recognized book of standards as per the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules 1945 thereunder. The IP specifies the standards of drugs manufactured and marketed in India in terms of their identity, purity and strength.
The quality, efficacy and safety of the medicines are important from healthcare perspective. In order to ensure the quality of medicinal products, the legal and scientific standards are provided by Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) in the form of Indian Pharmacopoeia (IP). As per, the Second Schedule of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, IP is designated as the official book of standards for drugs imported and/or manufactured for sale, stock or exhibition for sale or distribution in India.
The IP Commission’s mission is to promote public and animal health in India by bringing out authoritative and officially accepted standards for quality of drugs including active pharmaceutical ingredients, excipients and dosage forms, used by health professionals, patients and consumers. This is achieved by developing the standards for medicines and supporting their implementation. In addition, IPC also develops IP Reference Substances (IPRS) that act as fingerprint for identification of an article under test and its purity as prescribed in the IP monographs. Standards prescribed in the IP are authoritative in nature and are enforced by the regulatory authorities for quality control of medicines in India.

Government notified the National Manufacturing Policy(NMP) in 2011. The Policy is based on the principle of industrial growth in partnership with the States. National Investment & Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs) are one of the important instruments of the policy. Government has already granted final approval to the NIMZ in Sangareddy district, Telangana. Further, the proposal for granting final approval of establishment of Hyderabad Pharma City NIMZ in Rangareddy district, Telangana has been considered and recommended by the High Level Committee (HLC).
A letter of Chief Minister of Telangana was received in which CM has requested to release an amount of Rs. 500 Crores for development of external and internal infrastructure under Phase-1 of Zaheerabad NIMZ in Sangareddy district of Telangana. In this regard, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade(DPIIT) had already conveyed to the State Government of Telangana that DPIIT’s financial commitment is limited to extending assistance of Rs. 3 crores for funding the cost of master planning. For development of infrastructure in the NIMZ, the role of DPIIT is limited to coordination and no finances from DPIIT are committed for this purpose. The project proposals need to be prepared by the State Government and processed for approval as per norms and procedures applicable to Central Sector/ Centrally Sponsored/State Sector schemes/projects. DPIIT will forward such requisitions to the concerned Ministries and coordinate between State Government and line Ministries.
DPIIT has already released Rs. 3 Crores to the SPV of NIMZ for funding the cost of master planning of NIMZ in Sangareddy district of Telangana. The Department had also forwarded the proposals, submitted by TSIIC, of External infrastructure linkages, i.e. Road linkages and Rail linkages, for phase-1 of the said NIMZ to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Ministry of Railways respectively. The comments of Ministry of Railways have already been conveyed to Government of Telangana. Further, no proposal for internal infrastructure in the NIMZ has been received from the State Government.
The progress of NIMZ in Sangareddy district of Telangana was further reviewed on 14th November, 2019, in the 6th meeting of High Level Committee.
This information was given by the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today approved extension/renewal of Pharmaceuticals Purchase Policy (PPP) for pharmaceutical Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSUs) till their closure/strategic disinvestment.
Major Impact
Extension/renewal of the policy would help the pharma CPSUs in optimum utlilization of their existing facilities, enable them to generate revenues to pay salaries to their employees, help them in keeping the costly, sophisticated machinery in running condition resulting in higher return at the time of disposal in case of CPSUs under closure and better valuation in case of CPSUs under disinvestment.
Background
Pharmaceuticals Purchase Policy (PPP) was approved by the Cabinet on 30.10.2013 for a period of five years in respect of 103 medicines manufactured by pharma CPSUs and their subsidiaries. The policy is applicable to purchases by Central/ State Government departments and their Public Sector Undertakings etc. The pricing of the products is done by National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA). The procuring entity can purchase from Pharma CPSUs and their subsidiaries subject to their meeting Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) norms as per Schedule ‘M’ of the Drugs & Cosmetic Rules. The term of the policy expired on 09.12.2018.
Meanwhile, Cabinet decided on 28.12.2016 to close Indian Drugs and Pharmaceutical Limited (IDPL) & Rajasthan Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited (RDPL) and strategically sell Hindustan Antibiotics Limited (HAL) & Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceutical Limited (BCPL), after meeting their liabilities from proceeds of sale of their surplus land to government agencies. Subsequently, Cabinet has modified its decision on 17.07.2019 permitting to sell surplus land as per revised Department of Public Enterprises guidelines dated 14.06.2018. Separately, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) decided on 01.11.2017 for disinvestment of 100% GOI equity in the fifth pharma CPSU, namely Karnataka Antibiotics & Pharmaceuticals Limited (KAPL).
It has been proposed to extend the policy till final closure/sale of pharma CPSUs.