Drug ad net widens to chemists, pharmacies
NEW DELHI, 9 October —Under the Drugs Rules, 1945, a manufacturer may not advertise a prescription drug — one listed in Schedule H, H1 or X — without the Central Government’s prior sanction. The chemist who sells it is not named in that rule. The Union Health Ministry’s draft amendment, published as G.S.R. 861(E) in the Gazette on 28 September 2026 closes the gap. It inserts a sub-rule (22) under Rule 65: no advertisement of those drugs by a holder of a licence to sell, stock, exhibit, offer for sale or distribute them, retail or wholesale, without the same sanction.
At a glance
Instrument: draft amendment, Drugs Rules, 1945 — new sub-rule (22) under Rule 65
Gazette: G.S.R. 861(E), 28 September 2026 · Announced: 9 October 2026
Schedules covered: H, H1, X · Covered before: manufacturers · Proposed: all sale, stock, exhibit and distribution licence-holders, retail and
wholesale
Basis: 93rd DTAB meeting, 16 February 2026 · Objection window: 30 days from the Gazette copy being public
What India gains
A prescription-drug advertising rule that reaches the chemist’s shelf and the pharmacy app, with a public window to shape it.
Coal stock drawdown at power plant halves in October
NEW DELHI, 9 October — Power plants were drawing down their coal stocks by 0.243 million tonnes a day in September. In October the draw has fallen to 0.116 million tonnes a day, the Ministry of Coal said in a release posted on 9 October 2026 at 10:54 AM — a 52.3% cut, by Blitz arithmetic, which is what “more than halved” means in figures. Daily supplies to the power sector are up around 36% from the September low, and October’s average supply is about 9% above September’s.
At a glance
Daily supplies to power sector: up around 36% from the September low · October average: about 9% above September
Rail loading, October: more than 465 rakes a day; 470-rake target met on three consecutive days · Band to hold stocks: 465–475
Daily stock drawdown: 0.243 MT/day (September) to 0.116 MT/day (October)
Not stated: number of plants on the critical list; days of stock; total stock
What India gains
Power-plant coal stocks falling at half September’s pace, with rail loading at target, going into the festival peak.
India, ASEAN put trade pact review on fast track
JAKARTA, 9 October The review of the ASEAN–India Trade in Goods Agreement, the free-trade pact in that India has sought to rework, moved to a time-bound track at the 15th meeting of its Joint Committee, held at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta. The committee directed all its sub-committees to expedite the pending chapters of the review with firm, time-bound deliverables. The 16th Joint Committee meets in India in January 2027.
The Indian side was led by Nitin Kumar Yadav, Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce; ASEAN’s by Mastura Ahmad Mustafa, Deputy Secretary General (Trade) at Malaysia’s Ministry of Investment,
At a glance
Meeting: 15th AITIGA Joint Committee, 6–9 October 2026, ASEAN Secretariat, Jakarta, hybrid
Co-chairs: Nitin Kumar Yadav (India) · Mastura Ahmad Mustafa (Malaysia, for ASEAN) · All ten ASEAN states present
Sub-committees met: 3 of 8 — legal and institutional; national treatment and market access; rules of origin
Direction: expedite pending chapters with time-bound deliverables · Next: 16th JC, January 2027, India
What India gains
A dated path to a rewritten ASEAN pact, with the next round on home ground.
Four out of five Khadi artisans are women
NEW DELHI, 9 October — Around 80% of India’s approximately five lakh Khadi artisans are women, the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises said in a backgrounder posted on 9 October. An evaluation by the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India, Ahmedabad, found that more than 75% of artisans across the schemes reported a measurable rise in income.
At a glance
Khadi artisans: about 5 lakh; around 80% women
Design collections, CoE for Khadi at NIFT Delhi: 2,129 · Navyug Khadi products: 710
Artisans reporting measurable income rise (EDII Ahmedabad evaluation): more than 75%
Wages for spinning and weaving: raised from April 2025 (rate not stated) · Chittadurga sliver plant: 50% solar
What India gains
Four lakh women in paid work at the wheel, and a Khadi that now has a design studio behind it.
Trade Law Centre crosses 4,000 legal opinions
NEW DELHI, 9 October: The Centre for Trade and Investment Law at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade has given more than 4,000 legal opinions the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a release
Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said rigorous legal thinking matters more as trade rules are questioned and sustainability-linked measures and digital trade reshape the agenda;.
