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Patient needs and insights drive new era of global kidney research, discovery, and personalised treatments

Kidney patients worldwide are demanding an end to outdated dialysis care, characterized by staggeringly high mortality rates, and greater access to new products and solutions aimed at detecting, preventing, and treating kidney diseases earlier and in ways that improve quality of life and decrease dependency and disease-related unemployment. They are also organizing and coordinating their policy and grassroots efforts in a sophisticated effort to advance more common sense regulatory and payment reforms that prioritize patient needs and fully support the timely entry of new, safe products into global consumer markets.

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 EXPLAINER: Why World Bank is under fire over set of rankings

The report is important to many companies and investors around the world: They use the World Bank’s “Doing Business” report to help decide where to invest money, open manufacturing plants or sell products.

Eager to attract investment, countries around the world, especially developing economies, have sought to improve their rankings in the World Bank’s report.Sometimes, nations would pursue substantive policy changes — by, for example, making it easier for businesses to pay taxes, obtain loans or enforce contracts.

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Bad for business: World Bank China rigging scandal rattles investors

Economists said such reports – by the World Bank and others – were useful but had long been vulnerable to manipulation. They said some governments, especially in emerging market countries who want to demonstrate progress and attract investment, could become obsessed with their position in the reports, which assess everything from ease of paying taxes to legal rights.

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U.N. says world likely to miss climate targets despite COVID pause in emissions

“This year has seen fossil fuel emissions bounce back, greenhouse gas concentrations continuing to rise and severe human-enhanced weather events that have affected health, lives, and livelihoods on every continent,” he said. Concentrations in the atmosphere of the major greenhouse gases – CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide – continued to increase in 2020 and the first half of 2021, the U.N. said.

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GST Council to meet on Friday; rate review, tax concession to 11 COVID drugs on cards

The Council, comprising central and state finance ministers, will deliberate on the proposal of extending the existing concessional tax rate structure on Amphotericin B, Tocilizumab, Remdesivir, and anti-coagulants like Heparin, till December 31, 2021, from the present September 30.

Tax rate on Amphotericin B, Tocilizumab was cut to ‘Nil’, while Remdesivir and Heparin were reduced to 5 percent in June 2021.

The Council on Friday may also discuss the proposal of reducing GST from 12 percent to 5 percent to seven more drugs till December 31, 2021. These are Itolizumab, Posaconazole, Infliximab, Bamlanivimab & Etesevimab, Casirivimab & Imdevimab, 2-Deoxy-D-Glucose, and Favipiravir.

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